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One example. Colors, sub-models, and production years vary; the machine you find may differ.

Hermes Ambassadorthe heaviest portable, the lightest standard

1953–72 · Switzerland (Yverdon) · Standard · 22 kg

Swiss precisionWorkhorse precision

The keystroke

Effortmedium

Smoothnessglassy

Snapsoft

Precisionvault-tight

Landingcushioned

Volumehushed

buttered glass, defined even bottom-out, adjustable touch

A 3000 with the slight clunk removed. The firm, even end-stop is what levels the strikes into uniform print. Touch control runs from spongy (light) to nearly SM9-snappy (hard).

If the 3000 is the Swiss precision portable, the Ambassador is its office sibling: standard-sized, slightly heavier keypresses with more uniform print, twice the mass, built to outlast the building it sat in. Same Hermes attention to fit, scaled up.

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External, in their original form. The people who know these machines best — click through to read and watch.

galleries & serialsTypewriter Database oz.typewriter searchRobert Messenger Alan Seaver's collectionMachines of Loving Grace

Where to find one

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Hermes Ambassadorthe heaviest portable, the lightest standard

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Manuals & repair

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Where to find one

Specifications