I received advice that this serial is from 1960, if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the info, Ian.

I noticed another difference between the two Lettera 22s. The case for the pink one is lined with a tartan fabric, while the new blue one is lined in a drab tan colour. I don’t know if that’s an indicator of being from before or after a certain date, or in line with other places of manufacture?

I’ve just been down to the hardware and bought 3/16” x 5/16” rubber wiring grommets, which are perfect for replacing the perished ones on the Lettera 22. At the moment, the aluminium shell is rattling around on the screws. Other than that, it’s working quite well. It is skipping occasionally, so I’ll have to figure out how to clean and/or lubricate the escapement.

Best of luck in your search for a Lettera. They’re small, but have a satisfying weight to them.

I picked up this beauty today. Needs a clean up, but I think it will come up very well. I bought the salmon pink one for my daughter a while back, and liked it so much I wanted one for myself. This one is a grey/blue (not sure if that colour has an official name). Both are made in Glasgow. I believe the Salmon Pink one is from 1961. The new grey/blue one might be earlier? It has the round key tops, and I noticed no rule markings in it as well. Serial number seems to be T7788461.

I picked up yet another SF De Luxe. This one dates from 1963. It’s a cursive script model. Curiously, the blue ribbon cover doesn’t match the cream coloured base, and the other coloured variants of this model I’ve seen generally don’t have the green shift keys or carriage knobs. I guess I’ll never know if this came from the factory this way, or if the ribbon cover was swapped with another machine? Anyone out there have one with a blue base and a cream top?

Another new arrival...

I found this 1956 Olympia SM3 for a reasonable price, and had it shipped. The seller said it was functionally sound. It appeared to be packed well, but there’s an issue. The carriage makes a sound like the teeth of the gear rubbing as it’s moved. When the caps lock is on, the grinding isn’t there and the carriage is quite smooth. The carriage moves as it should when typing. Any help would be appreciated.

I should put this in the repairs section.

In any case, she is pretty.