Hugo Borchardt emigrated from Germany to America, where he worked for Winchester and Sharps (cf. the Sharps-Borchardt rifle of 1877). In the mid-1880s he returned to Germany and joined Ludwig Loewe & Co. of Berlin. His design for patent No. 75837 of Sept. 9 1893 was revolutionary in its successful combination of recoil-operation and the toggle-lock in a handgun, and in the efficiency of its operation. It has been estimated that a little over a thousand Borchardt pistols were built by Ludwig Loewe & Co. before the company was succeeded by D.W.M. in 1896. The pistols were hand-built to extremely high standards using the best possible materials and were advertised extensively in Britain and America, where they were offered 'complete with three extra Magazines, Tools, Oilers, Holster, and Straps' at $30 (the case was $5 extra)