1 - Pete E.
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Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
Very curious and puzzling "Hermes 3000S" typewriter offered on eBay out of Japan.
Note the Yen monetary symbol above the "3" key-top.
Most fascinating is that this machine seems to have some Facit TP1/TP2 traits.
Specifically :
1. The tube/bearing carriage rail system.
2. Dual function Tabulator controls (on the left side and on the right side)...just as the Facit machines have. One side is to activate & de-activate the factory-fixed Tab stops. The other side is to allow a user to set & clear Tab stops at locations of their choosing.
Anyone seen such a Hermes 3000S in their travels ?
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- Pete E.
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
Link to the offering on eBay :
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Thread Starter- Pete E.
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
The more I look at the photos of this Hermes 3000S and compare it to my Facit 1620, the more I am convinced it might be a Facit or a Facit clone.
The details of the carriage return lever and the margin stops are identical. And both have the Tab, M-R, and back-space key-tops all clustered along the right side of the key-board.
AND...then I find this photo and others of another HERMES 3000S on a Japanese auction site in the past, and look at the label on the back of that machine :
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Thread Starter- JJH
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
I must say that the branding on typewriters seems to be a real mess to figure out sometimes. I'm not even sure why the complex rebranding shenanigans in the first place. It looks like Paillard hired Facit to produce this for the Japanese market for some reason?
- robmck
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
Or maybe Facit had an Asian factory and licensed the "Hermes" name there because it worked better for that market...
Interesting find!
- Pete E.
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
Hi Rob,
The "Made In Swed..." label does establish its Swedish roots, I think.
There is a machine on eBay right now that has a regular QWERTY keyboard layout with no Asian characters and only the monetary symbol of $. Same for another on Etsy in the past.
The eBay offering has a video with sound...and from that machine, it does not sound much like the Facits some collectors love.
Would love to know how Facit got the rights to use "Hermes 3000S" on these machines.
But by then, Facit was being sold to Electrolux and 10 years later to Ericsson and then finally shutting down in the mid 1990's.
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Thread Starter- quicktapper
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
I have found this brochure of the "Hermes 3000 S" and it gives the location as:- Hermes Precisa Yverdon
Along with this brochure, I have also found another eBay listing, from France
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen..."--Nineteen-Eighty Four, George Orwell
- quicktapper
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
I have found this brochure of the "Hermes 3000 S" and it gives the location as:- Hermes Precisa Yverdon
Along with this brochure, I have also found another eBay listing, from France
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen..."--Nineteen-Eighty Four, George Orwell
- quicktapper
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
Sorry for the double posts it was an accident.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen..."--Nineteen-Eighty Four, George Orwell
- Pete E.
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Re: Puzzling....Hermes 3000S Typewriter
For the machine for sale on the eBay site in France, the small label on the back still reads as " ....Sweden "....but the first part of the label is torn off.
Probably read as " Made In Sweden "...
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