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 A flame has always stayed the element that a human being
dreamed to tame and it happened. The first lighter was invented by Leonardo Da Vinci
in the XV century, though the invention just stayed the invention and was not
realized in practice. The drawings tell us that the lighter by Da Vinci would
hold the half of a small room and we are not sure of the safety with such a
lighter. The mankind seemed to be involved in the other essential problems to
solve and the invention was forgotten.
Just in the beginning of the XIX century the human beings
felt a need in the lighter since they got extremely used to smoking, and
lighting a cigarette from the candelabrum was bad manners. Meeting the demands of the public, the German
chemist Doebereiner created the incredibly expensive table lighter. As the igniting
element the fine granulated platinum was used with hydrogen as the fuel which
easily blasted causing injuries to the tobacco smokers.
50 years later people discovered that the flame could be kept
open with the fuse wet in the fuel an the real history of cigarette lighters
began from that history point.
The first company that arranged the industrial production of
the «hand-held flame» was Cartier Company. The Company produced the luxury
items affordable to the wealthy people only. Cartier lighter has stayed to be
one of the expensive accessories which perfectly match the useful functions and
the magnificent jewelry work.
Up to 1903 the lighters were not in change until the real revolution
occurred. The chemists discovered the artificial compound of the iron with the
cerium to obtain the silicon which allowed the ways to strike fire. However, the
first manufactured silicon cigarette lighters had a major disadvantage – they were
too uncomfortable and bulky to light a tobacco with one hand. During the times of
the World War I the soldiers used to get the fire with the ordinary device - a
cartridge case with the soldered flint and steel to create sparks.
This problem was solved in 1924 when the British engineers Frederic
Charles Wise and Willie Greenwood, designed the horizontal-placed wheel. The
commercial mind and business features of Alfred Dunhill made him one of the
prosperous persons of the time. He established the business and manufactured «one-arm»
cigarette lighters Everyday. So, since 1926 the Dunhill Company became one of
the leading companies to manufacture elite lighters and it still keeps these
positions and reputation. By the way, both Dunhill and Cartier discontinued
manufacture of benzene-based lighter and S.T. Dupont, the other elite-lighter
manufacturer, committed to it, when practiced using gas-based lighters in 1947.
Currently S.T. Dupont is the leading manufacturer of luxury
cigar lighters to present to the royal family members and presidents, oil kings
and Arab sheikhs, and the sound of the lid when it is opened is the musical
note «la» by the tuning fork.
It is strange but Zippo, so much advertised and known
company, manufactures the lighter for medium class of the society which are
known to public due to commercials again.
These lighter, though, are perfect to use in the open air,
when you are fishing, mountaineering, or hunting and want to hold the flame.
One should keep in mind that there are millions of Zippo replicas and you can
easily get confused when buying Zippo products since the fake looks good. The amateurs
of Zippo lighters are fascinated with the rare lighters of the preliminary
issues. Yet, the collectors find it customary to spend several thousand dollars
for the rarity by Zippo. By the way, a good quality Dunhill, Cartier or S.T.
Dupont lighter cost the same.
The lighters manufactured by the Diplomat Company refer to
the medium-priced items of the price guidepost to enjoy the slogan «Works as
Swiss watches», thus, make sure you are not going to puzzle watches and
lighters. The Japanese Saroma produces lighters in the same price segment
though the company managed to distinguish against the other when it invented
the turbo-lighter in 1986 with the flame that is ignited like the jet run not
the even flame of other lighters.
Finally, in spite of the huge variety of lighters, tobacco
smokers would never choose for the benzene-fuel lighters but will prefer
appropriate lighters for cigarettes or cigars to match the style they keep to.
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