ST Dupont Lighter Thread

[El Presidente]

I was asked yesterday if I knew how to tell a fake ST Dupont Lighter. 

While I answered yesterday's email I thought it a good idea for a dedicated thread on ST Dupont lighters that upon completion will be put in the Classics area for future member reFOHrence. 

It is always a better outcome with member input and so I will put it to you.  Please help out.  

How can you tell a fake ST Dupont Lighter?

[Frozen North]

If it works ?

[Habana Mike]

Price is the first giveaway.

Like if a box of Habanos is offered cheaper than they sell for in Havana, fake 99.999% of the time.

 

[RDB]

Some things are easy: like if it has the ‘Laque de Chine’ marking but it’s not a laquered model!

But some of the fakes can be very hard to spot, especially in photos. In the hand it’s a bit easier, and if it feels at all loose in the hinge or roller then it’s probably not real.

[El Presidente]

 

[Subcomandante]

I think the first thing I’d look for is the stamped numbers. If it’s perfectly lined up it’s fake since they are stamped by hand and supposed to be uneven. 

[HuffnPuffff]

I think it’s very difficult.
I spent most of my 20’s in Beijing at the beginning of this century and over time bought about 10 fake DuPont lighters for around USD 25 each. I partied hard and banged them up; they got scratched by my keys in my pocket, dropped a lot and used almost every night. They were great work horses. At the time the idea of spending a lot of money on one super expensive lighter was just... my brain just couldn’t compute the concept.

Now that I’m a little older I have sympathy for IP and the difficulty and importance of retaining a skilled work force to make a high value product in an unfair global market place etc etc.
I bought a second hand dual flame Davidoff (made by ST DuPont) off eBay, and my wife gifted me a gold DuPont bought from their store here in Hong Kong. I’m afraid to use it so it sits at home and lights candles on birthday cakes a couple of times a year.

Back to 2005 - my buddy Chris was gifted a legit DuPont from his wife and promptly lost it. Instead of telling her, he bought a replacement from the legit DuPont store. It was eye-wateringly expensive. As a joke I went to the fake market and bought him a replica. I gave it to him when we next went out drinking and by the end of the evening we couldn’t work out which one was which. We really couldn’t. The next day he checked the serial number on the receipt and the real one was the one we had decided was the fake one. The fake one felt a bit heavier and dependable.

So, leaving aside ethics, and the joy that most people get from owning and using something legit and special (which is a separate discussion) my view is that it’s very difficult to tell the fakes that I’ve owned/own from the real ones I own.

To be honest, the lighter I use most now is my FOH lighter - now that I only smoke outside I find the DuPonts a pain in the ass to use.



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[Oscar300]

The wobbly serial number, colored paint in the fill cap, and the ping.  I have a good few now and use them all, silver table lighter daily, the wife got me a rose gold line 2 and its just stunning, if your into it.

The Maxi Jets are good and tough as well, I like the brand.