I was the Marketing Manager for Interphoto Corporation, which owned Spiratone, from 1968 to 1975.
We rebranded lenses from many manufacturers, including Sigma, and sold them under various names, such as Accura, Spiratone, Sun, Suntar, Argus, Five Star, Formula 5, etc.
Indeed, this 18mm f/3.5 is a Sigma lens, designed by the lengendary Michihiro Yamaki, who founded the Sigma Lens Company in 1961 and was CEO until his death in 2012.
I tested various versions of this lens in 1967, including the later-released Filtermatic, which incorporated a rotating collar, providing access to several built-in filters.
The Y-S System (Yamaki System), was invented by Mr. Yamaki as an automatic stop-down and meter-coupled upgrade of the well established T-Mount System (Tamron System).
Fred Spira, the President of Spiratone, was a brilliant mail-order retail entrepreneur who established Spiratone in NY after WWII.
Spira traveled the world searching out photographic gizmos to sell under the Accura and Spiratone brand names.
Spiratone's ads on the back pages of every photo magazine from the 1960's to the 1980's are legendary.
A magnifying glass was essential for reading those brilliant ads!
Spira sold thousands of rear attached lens converters (Tele-Converters), invented by Yamaki and manufactured by Sigma in the early 1960's.
It was Fred Spira who encouraged Yamaki to fine-tune the Y-S System so it could be compatible with all SLR cameras.
Some of the Y-S adapters worked well (Pentax, Minolta, Nikon); others were less reliable, notably Canon FD, Konica, Exakta, Petri, and Miranda, which required the user to "fine-tune" the Y-S Adapter to each lens to ensure proper meter coupling and auto-diaphragm operation.
Michihiro Yamaki was one of the most inventive Japanese optical designers of the 20th Century.
"Yamaki founded Sigma Corporation on Sept. 9, 1961 with the development of the first-ever rear attached lens converter. At that time, most photo enthusiasts believed that a lens converter could only be attached to the front of a camera lens and the 27-year-old optical engineer turned conventional optical theory on its head.
He has been honored with the “Person of the Year” award from The Photoimaging Manufacturers & Distributors Association (PMDA), the “Hall of Fame” award from the International Photographic Council (IPC), and the Golden Photokina Pin for his longtime contribution to the imaging industry."
One final note, I was present at Mr. Yamaki's induction ceremony into the PMDA Hall of Fame.
When he entered the banquet hall, every Japanese person in attendance showed their reverence for Yamaki, making the long and deep "worship" bow, Nirei-Nihakushu.
Sorry I got off track.
David, you brought back fond memories.
Thanks, and good luck with the sale.
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