is this the first hilgen?

This amplifier was advertised as a Sano 16WR.  I knew that that could not be true. The seller also suggested that it might be a Hilgen.  I thought that was extremely likely. So far as I know, Sano never used this style of grille cloth, nor did it affix the brass coat of arms at the lower right corner of the grille.   On the other hand, Hilgen used this grille cloth 100% of the time, and very frequently used the coat of arms.  I have never seen the coat of arms on any amp other than a Hilgen.

And yet on another hand:

The control panel does not bear the Hilgen logo.  Nor does it use the Sano logo.  However, Sano did, on several models, place a chevron above the inputs.

And...

The wiring bears similarities to that on both early 60's Sanos and Hilgens, although it uses components that I have seen in many Hilgens but few Sanos.

However, there's no arguing with:

V.2 is an ECC82 rebranded as a Hilgen 12AU7A.  All the tubes are of similar appearance with respect to their age, and all appear original. 

The amp is a challenge to date thus far.  Remarkably, I have found no date codes or any other identifying information on the speaker.  The pot codes are atypical.  They begin with the code, "CM25880."  The internet reveals no EIA code that matches it.  Following that code are the numbers, "6430."  Typically, that would indicate that the pot was made in the 30th week of 1964, which coincides well with my working timeline for when Jack Gentul started Hilgen. 

I wonder if Jack wired this himself?  It's beautiful workmanship.

More to follow.