Scored today a vintage Dunhill lighter

[bigcaddy64]

While Dunhill lighters are a very collectible item, there can be some snags when determining value and what your cutoff price should be when buying. There is a large difference with the earlier lighter fluid models vs. Rollagas (butane) models. Most fluid models will need the flint replaced and maybe some cleaning (old flints expand and leave a chalky dust all over). Add some fresh fluid and a Dunhill flint (they are brand specific and Dunhills are larger then others) and it will work just fine. You might be out a few bucks for the fluid and flint. A Rollagas is a whole other story. They have multiple o-rings inside and will need to be replaced if you want to sell the lighter as "working condition". This will also bring top dollar since the new buyer might want to use it himself.

I've always been into cigars and have been fortunate enough to find a decent amount of Dunhill items in the wild. One of my better finds was a silver plated, Barley pattern, Rollagas from the early 1960s, with the box and cloth bag. Since i like to use my Dunhill stuff when i smoke cigars, i couldn't foul up a mint lighter. Knowing that with each flick of the roller, i was literally harming the value so i decided to have it rebuilt and sell it. This was my first Rollagas so i was in for a shock.

The rebuild estimate was about 105.00 The lighter was a whopping 10.00 with an average sold price of 50.00 on ebay!! The math didn't add up so i never did anything with it but keep that i mind when you see a nice Rollagas for 40.00. and think its a killer deal. Rare patterns or color combos do great, as do lighters with exceptionally fine exteriors. Sterling models will bring a premium and anything 14k will skyrocket.

 

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[tamrock]

While Dunhill lighters are a very collectible item, there can be some snags when determining value and what your cutoff price should be when buying. There is a large difference with the earlier lighter fluid models vs. Rollagas (butane) models. Most fluid models will need the flint replaced and maybe some cleaning (old flints expand and leave a chalky dust all over). Add some fresh fluid and a Dunhill flint (they are brand specific and Dunhills are larger then others) and it will work just fine. You might be out a few bucks for the fluid and flint. A Rollagas is a whole other story. They have multiple o-rings inside and will need to be replaced if you want to sell the lighter as "working condition". This will also bring top dollar since the new buyer might want to use it himself.

I've always been into cigars and have been fortunate enough to find a decent amount of Dunhill items in the wild. One of my better finds was a silver plated, Barley pattern, Rollagas from the early 1960s, with the box and cloth bag. Since i like to use my Dunhill stuff when i smoke cigars, i couldn't foul up a mint lighter. Knowing that with each flick of the roller, i was literally harming the value so i decided to have it rebuilt and sell it. This was my first Rollagas so i was in for a shock.

The rebuild estimate was about 105.00 The lighter was a whopping 10.00 with an average sold price of 50.00 on ebay!! The math didn't add up so i never did anything with it but keep that i mind when you see a nice Rollagas for 40.00. and think its a killer deal. Rare patterns or color combos do great, as do lighters with exceptionally fine exteriors. Sterling models will bring a premium and anything 14k will skyrocket.

I had a big ol' boy and boss for a sales manager from Alabama back in the 90's and every time he came out to travel with me I'd meet him in either here in Denver, Salt Lake, Albuquerque or Phoenix. The first thing he always wanted to do was hit the smoke shops for cigars. We'd stop at so many and they never had what he wanted and we'd head to another as he checked them off on a page of the yellow pages phone book he'd rip out of the phone books at the airport. We didn't visit any customers until, he either found what he was looking for or ran out of options at all the tobacco shops in the city. I'd ask him WTF do have to have, there's like hundreds of cigars they have and you don't want any of them?? He'd like rattle off some brand names he'd like. Wasn't much I could do about it as he was the boss and I the driver ... I use to smoke and back when I was 16, 17 ?? You either had matches or that Zippo as the Bic hadn't come out yet. I kinda miss those days when you'd tap a smoke out of the pack, put it in your teeth, reach in your pocket and grab the top of that Zippo and swing it open and light up and then snap that Zippo shut. Had a cool sound it did that went along with your cool self. Most I ever made on a Zippo was on a later 1950's sportsman loss prof with the motif of a downhill snow skier. It wasn't in all that great of condition and I got it for 10 bucks and I buyer in China paid $498. on it. I bought a beater 3 barrel hinge for 3 bucks once and a guy on the island of Reunion west of Madagascar payed like $60. for it. I love it when I see a nice selection old lighters in a flea market or antique store. Still the rare ones are rare to find and I doubt I'll ever run into a deal on a Dunhill like this again.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Tamrock,

Some cigar smokers, like your old boss, are very picky and i think i've ruined myself from a young age due to my early cigar habits. From the get go i've pretty much smoked Cuban cigars due to men like "Red", who inhabited cigar shops, "know how to get certain things from time to time". When i open a JR Cigars catalog now i feel lost looking at all of the new labels so i just stick with what i know. I've yet to go wrong with a Cuban.

Ill try to get a picture of my Dunhill stuff but i don't have all of it at my house. I know i gave my older brother a humidor, cutters and lighter so he could smoke in style. That leaves some lighters and humidor i can take a picture of.

 

[tamrock]

Tamrock,

Some cigar smokers, like your old boss, are very picky and i think i've ruined myself from a young age due to my early cigar habits. From the get go i've pretty much smoked Cuban cigars due to men like "Red", who inhabited cigar shops, "know how to get certain things from time to time". When i open a JR Cigars catalog now i feel lost looking at all of the new labels so i just stick with what i know. I've yet to go wrong with a Cuban.

Ill try to get a picture of my Dunhill stuff but i don't have all of it at my house. I know i gave my older brother a humidor, cutters and lighter so he could smoke in style. That leaves some lighters and humidor i can take a picture of.

I finally got off the smoking and it now actually bugs me when I smell it, but not like when I finally nipped it in the bud. I'd smell a pipe, gig or cigar and I just had to have a smoke. These days I get a fix in the morn or when I'm away from mama with a dip a chew. She just said don't ever use that stuff when I'm around ya. Fare enough. The boss I have now is a pipe smoker and he had this pipe he got at some tobacco shop and I criticized it and told him if your going to smoke a pipe you should look into buying something with some class over his Chinese made looking brand he had. He was was all "what's wrong with it" ?? I explained to him what I though he should be smoking and showed him what I was talking about on eBay in a way of the good makers of London and Denmark.

 

[dejapooh]

I have an alligator skin cigarette case from Dunhill somewhere... Problem, it has a personalized inscription. Benefit? Paid all of $1 for it.

 

[tamrock]

I have an alligator skin cigarette case from Dunhill somewhere... Problem, it has a personalized inscription. Benefit? Paid all of $1 for it.

That's in most cases it overlooked, as most the really old stuff would be monogrammed. You did good for only a buck. What kind of metal is the alligator skin applied to? They applied things like shark, lizard and alligator skin to cig cases made of stainless steel gold-fill, solid silver and even solid gold.

 

[dejapooh]

That's in most cases it overlooked, as most the really old stuff would be monogrammed. You did good for only a buck. What kind of metal is the alligator skin applied to? They applied things like shark, lizard and alligator skin to cig cases made of stainless steel gold-fill, solid silver and even solid gold.

Gold colored metal, but it feels too light to be Gold. I don't see a mark, other than the Dunhill stamp.

 

[bigcaddy64]

For those interested, here are a few of the dunhill items that I had laying around my house. I know I have more but couldn't dig them up for pictures.

Blonde walnut humidor
1970s Rollagas lighter
1950s Sterling "Squareboy"

 

[tamrock]

For those interested, here are a few of the dunhill items that I had laying around my house. I know I have more but couldn't dig them up for pictures.

Blonde walnut humidor
1970s Rollagas lighter
1950s Sterling "Squareboy"

nice!