Mein Benz!! silver enamel cigarette case, starting price of €1000 at Geble.
One of the driving forces of the fusion was Wilhelm Kissel, managing director of Benz & Company and later chairman of the board of the new joint venture. On April 13, Geble in Radolfzell on Lake Constance is selling several cigarette cases with a connection to Benz from the early 1920s. They all belonged to Kissel and the vendor is a direct descendant of his.
In October last year, Geble sold a silver enamel case from the same source for €2000. It was decorated with the depiction of a young girl in a tan dress and a white bonnet who is hugging a vintage touring car. The enthusiastic legend on the cover declares Mein Benz!! (My Benz). This time around, an almost identical silver and enamel case with an opening button beset by a sapphire cabochon has a starting price of €1000.
A wooden, probably walnut, Mein Benz!! cigarette case, guide of €100 at Geble.
Worthy of note is also a wooden, probably walnut, case, from the same period, inlaid with the identical motif. It has a guide of €100.
A third silver case with an enamel Benz-logo and four enamel roundels with symbols connected to road signs has a starting price of €90. It bears a dedication from Willy Vogel; the company he founded in 1929 provided lubricants for all sorts of machines and as such had close connections to Kissel.
