A collector’s passion
A collector’s area of interest is often heavily influenced by their profession. And that is indeed what led to the development of this collection. In the beginning, decommissioned industrial machines were collected. It was not until later that historical domestic sewing machines were also obtained. The nucleus of the collection was formed by the Hanspeter Luzi Collection from St. Gallen in Switzerland and then by the Roger Frey Collection from Cannes in France. A substantial portion of the collection consists of rare American sewing machines. They are one-of-a-kind or rarities that are found only in very limited numbers in the world.
Fascinating sewing machines were also produced in France in the second half of the nineteenth century. The French machines were of a high technical standard and of excellent quality. This might be attributable to the fact that the French sewing machine industry, even in those days, did not become internationally competitive in terms of price. The sewing machine trade in France was mainly defined by imports from North America and Germany. On the basis of this experience, French engineers turned to new areas of design engineering, manufactured bicycles and, above all, cars. They also became involved in the construction and development of aircraft.
Antique French sewing machines are therefore highly sought-after by collectors as, apart from a small number of exceptions, they were never mass produced.
We look forward to seeing you at the sewing machine museum in Albstadt.
