eBay: £7,100 for a Dunhill Aquarium Table Lighter

A rare Dunhill "Aquarium" Table Lighter was sold today on eBay (UK) for £7,100. The opening bid started at £1,000 on October 15th 2016. Ten days later the table lighter had received 21 bids from 5 bidders. The lighter itself had some condition issues although the scene with the beautiful Queen Mary ship made the lighter very desirable.

The Dunhill Aquarium lighters which were made in the early 1950s are for sure among collectors' favorites. They usually receive final eBay selling prices in the $3,500 to $5,000 range. The price though might be higher especially for examples in excellent condition featuring scenes like birds, outdoor pursuits, automobiles or ships. The scenes were hand-painted by Ben Shillingford which makes every lighter unique and thus very desirable.

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line. Queen Mary was the flagship of the Cunard Line from May 1936 until October 1946 when she was replaced in that role by Queen Elizabeth. Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and captured the Blue Riband in August of that year; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952 when she was beaten by the new SS United States. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the duration of the war. More information can be found on Wikipedia.

FAQ: Dunhill Foxhole & Windproof Lighter Instruction, 1942

This instruction comes from a foxhole lighter manufactured by Dunhill in the 1940s in New York, United States. The lighter was available in two versions: sterling silver and silver plated.

Advert: Dunhill Ball Table Lighter et al., 1929

A black & white Alfred Dunhill Limited advertisement published in 'Punch, or The London Charivarl' magazine on 18th December 1929. It depicts some of the smoking accessories manufactured by Dunhill:

• Vanity Pocket Lighter
• Sports Pocket Lighter
• Ball Table Lighter
• Table Lighter
• Watch Pocket Lighter
• Bijou Pocket Lighter etc.

Advert: Dunhill Hunting Horn Table Lighter, 1932

A very interesting example of the 1930s ephemera – a letter from Alfred Dunhill Ltd. sent to their wholesale clients advertising a new model of a table lighter – the Dunhill Hunting Horn Lighter.

Dunhill Aladdin's Lamp Table Lighter, 1938

The Dunhill Aladdin's Lamp Table Lighter also known as the Roman Lamp (first edition) or Genie Lamp was manufactured only for a short period of time between 1938 and 1939 in England which makes it very rare. It is made of an unknown white metal painted with a gold tone paint. Some parts, for example the top as well the wand are made of brass.

The lighter has a very precise trigger activated mechanism – it is operated by pressing down on the wand which actuates the opening of the lid and firing the spark wheel to light the wick in the front – at the same time the wick end of the wand engages the cotton wool in the reservoir – you can either pick up the lamp for a light, or you can withdraw the wand, light it from the front wick and use the wand to light your smoke.

The second incarnation of the Dunhill Roman Table Lighter from the 1952 was described in an earlier post. 

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Marked on the underside:

DUNHILL
LONDON

REGD. DESIGN 817955
PAT. APPD. FOR
MADE IN ENGLAND

Scarcity: very rare

Value for good–mint condition: $300.00–600.00 (approx €200.00–400.00)

Weight: 335 grams (11 ³/₄ oz)

Dimensions:

• height: 9.5 cm (3.9")
• length: 15.0 cm (5.9")
• depth: 10.0 cm (4.0")

eBay: Dunhill Sterling Table Lighter Clock, 1930s

This item is on my eBay watch list for a while now. It is a beautiful Dunhill Clock & Lighter with a significant price tag of 31 484 zł (approx. 32 620 zł). According to the seller it was made in the 1930s and is made of sterling silver. 

The clock and the wick lighter do work. The size (LxHxW) of the lighter is ca. 6.4 cm, 10 cm and 3,3 cm; the weight 203 grams.

Happy hunting!

Advert: Alfred Dunhill Lighters Range, 1955

A full page Dunhill magazine advertisement published on 26th November 1955. It depicts a small part of the Dunhill smoking accessories range including Dunhill Rollagas pocket lighters and the Dunhill table lighter.

Patent: Alfred Dunhill, Roman Lamp Lighter, 1937

Patented March 18, 1938
          

           United Kingdom Patent Office
           Patent no. 481,689

          

           Design and mechanism 
Dunhill Roman Lamp (mark 1)

 Alfred Dunhill Limited, British Company,
of 30, Duke Street, St. James', London

          

           Application date: January 30, 1937

   

eBay: $20,000 for a vintage Dunhill enamel set?

This item is on my eBay watch list since the beginning of the year 2013. It is a masterpiece without doubt. I am referring to a 'fixed price' auction with a 1930s Dunhill Set consisting of the "Unique" wick lighter and cigarette case.

Both items are unusual, made of 0.935 silver and beautifully enameled. The hand-painted enameling workmanship depicts a lovely detailed scene. The price tag? A heavy $20,000 (about €15,000)! The set is in very good condition and it comes in its original box.

Since it was listed it had already 13 price offers and currently 39 watchers including me. Happy hunting!

Dunhill "Baby Sylph" Cigarette Lighter, 1949

Alfred Dunhill ltd. manufactured between 1948 and 1954 one of the smallest fully working and for sure most exclusive lighters in the world. The so called "Baby Sylph" was marketed in solid silver, silver electroplate or gold plate. The lighter showed below has a reeded decoration. The original is stamped "Dunhill" and "Made in England". It has many reproductions which are cheap imitations made in Japan in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Scarcity: very rare

Value for very good–mint condition: $400.00–800.00 (approx €300.00–600.00)

Weight: 31 g (1oz)

Dimensions:

• height: 2.2 cm
• length: 1.5 cm
• depth: 1.1 cm

eBay: Dunhill Unique Table Lift-Arm Lighter, 1920s

It is not the most expensive table lighter in the world but for sure a very unusual one. It was sold yesterday on eBay. The opening bid started at $25 on June 8th 2013. Seven days later this rare Dunhill table lighter had received 33 bids from 15 bidders. The seller described it as being in overall very good condition.

This lift-arm table lighter was manufactured by Dunhill (model Unique) in the late 1920's. It is marked STERLING, GERMANY and DUNHILL NEW YORK along with three silver hallmarks. Lighter stands about 2-38" tall. It is about 2.25" wide and 1.25" thick at the base. The lighter is made of sterling silver and has a beautiful enamel painting of birds in flight at the edge of a lake. Below some more pictures of this lighter:

Auction house - vintage pocket and table lighters, sale

I received today an email from "Koller Auktionen" - a swiss auction house - with an invitation to the auction on pocket and table lighters (auction no. W236). It will take place in three days on 20th of March. You may look at the over 200 lighters listed here. 

Most of the lots are overpriced but famous auction houses attract wealthy people so there is a probability that some of the cigarette lighters will find a new home. One of the table lighters I have spotted has though a tempting starting price:

Lot 5609
TISCHFEUERZEUG "WELTKUGEL", U.S.A., Art Déco. Metall silberfarben gefasst und teils verchromt. Erdkugel, die Kontinente profiliert dargestellt. Auf rundem Sockel. H 13,5 cm.
CHF 200.- / 300.-
€ 170.- / 250.-

The table lighter is in good condition and it is the famous "The Globe" lighter sold and advertised by Dunhill in the 1930s. It was manufactured by Demuth New York (Demley) and was available in chrome-plate and bronze-plate finish.

Advert: Dunhill Namiki Table, Pocket Lighters, 1931

A black&white French magazine advertisement published in L'Illustration on June 1931. It depicts among others the Dunhill Lift Arm Table and Pocket Lighters in Namiki finish.

"Silent Flame" Table Lighter Operating Instruction

The improved "Silent Flame" lighter mechanism was invented and patented by Irving Florman in 1935 in the United States of America (U.S. Pat. 2,020,142). The invention was known as the electric cigar lighter "of the type wherein a wick is ignited through the heat of an electrical resistance element". Below an instruction on how to care and use such lighter. It applies to all Silent Flame Lighters made by PARKER and Dunhill.

To Fill Lighter: Turn knob at top of lighting stick to left to remove. Fill stick to top with any good lighter fluid. Do not use gasoline or kerosene. Replace knob at top of stick.

To Light: Rest the lightning stick upon the metal railing around the top of the lighter, at the same time touch the protruding point of the lightning stick against the metal figure in the center of the lighter so as to make a contact. Do not scratch any part of the lightning stick against any other part of the lighter.

To Exchange Batteries: The lighter operates on two batteries. Any standard dry cell of the correct size will do. At the bottom of lighter is a screw. Turn this screw to remove the base. This exposes two cells, one is in an up and one is a down position, according to markings. Replace with two fresh batteries and be sure that they are put in the same up and down position at last ones and that they are firmly held in the metal clips.

eBay: $8,300 for a Dunhill Aquarium Table Lighter

A very rare Dunhill Aquarium Table Lighter was sold last month on eBay for $8,300. The opening bid started at $1,500 on January 19th 2012. Ten days later the table lighter had received 20 bids from 9 bidders. By far it is the highest price for a table lighter fetched on eBay. The record price for a cigarette lighter though belongs to an early example of Zippo pocket lighter which was sold on January 2009 for $11,758.98!

The Dunhill Aquarium lighters which were made in the early 1950s are for sure among collectors' favorites. They usually receive final eBay selling prices in the $3,500 to $5,000 range. The price though might be higher especially for examples in excellent condition featuring scenes like birds, outdoor pursuits, automobiles or ships. The scenes were hand-painted by Ben Shillingford which makes every lighter unique and thus very desirable.

And some more pictures of this beauty:

Advert: Alfred Dunhill Cigarette Lighter, 1947

A simple magazine advertisement published in Holiday Magazine on December 1947. It depicts the Alfred Dunhill Rollalite lighter in 14 kt. gold with the Denicotea crystal filter holder.

Dunhill Sylph Letter Opener/Lighter, 1958

The Dunhill 'Sylph' Letter Opener/Lighter was manufactured between 1958 and 1961 in England. This lift arm wick lighter is a combination of the smallest Dunhill 'Sylph Ruler' (handle) and a letter opener blade. It was produced in two finishes: silver plate and gold plate. The handle was made of brass and was available plated with a monogram shield or covered with pig skin colored in red or brown.

Marked on the bottom of the handle:

SYLPH
dunhill

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Scarcity: rare

Value for very good–mint condition (depends on finish): $350.00–450.00 (approx €260.00–370.00)

Weight: coming soon

Dimensions:

• height: 1.0 cm (0.4")
• width: 2.0 cm (0.8")
• length: 22.0 cm (8.5")

Dunhill Catalog, 1959/1960

Today something special! Owing to Martin - a reader of this blog - I am publishing few pages of the rare Dunhill Catalog from 1959/1960. A lot of great table lighters are depicted. Enjoy! 

If you have any other catalogs on lighters you would like to share please email me!

Appraisal of collectibles & antiques

I receive a lot of requests connected with appraisal of table lighters that were not described yet. Determining the price of a specific item is very difficult and one can give only a rough estimate. Why? Because you are supposed to be able to guess how much a buyer may pay for it within a specific period of time and sales conditions. 

Our market is not a perfect market. Mainly because perfect and global market information simply does not exist. It changed a lot due to the development of Internet but it is still not ideal. The price range for the same item may vary a lot. It depends among others on your focus group - who are you going to reach with the information that you want to sell it? Will you list your item on ebay? Yes? Then in what country? Or maybe an auction house would be better? Or selling it to your nearest antiques dealer or friend?... Well, everything depends on a lot of factors. In each case you might be almost sure that you will receive a different amount of money for you item. 

For you consideration find all ebay listings on the Dunhill Pistol Lighter. Then check this post here and take a look at the appraisal which was included in the Miller's Collectables Price Guide 2004 edited by Judith Miller:

Dunhill Rollalite Table Lighter, 1949

The Dunhill Rollalite Lighter is one of the most famous lighters made by Dunhill. It was first manufactured between 1949 in the United States of America and Switzerland by Alfred Dunhill ltd. The production of the wick lighter ceased in 1956. This small and handy automatic table wick lighter was manufactured basically in five finishes – 18K gold, gold plate, sterling silver, silver plate and rhodium plate.  It was moreover available striped in couple of variants. The quality of this lighter was very high.

This lighter has a typical rollalite mechanism used since the 1940s in different brands. The base is padded with green felt. It is marked on the bottom: 

DUNHILL ROLLALITE
U.S.PAT. No. 2.102.108

No felt is present in sterling silver and 18K gold version of the lighter. The sterling silver is marked on the bottom:

U.S.PAT. No. 2102108

OTHERS PENDING

DUNHILL LONDON

MADE IN SWITZERLAND

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Scarcity: uncommon– very rare

Value for very good–mint condition (silver or gold plated): $125.00–450.00 (approx €100.00–200.00)

Weight: 135 grams (0.3 pounds)

Dimensions:

• height: 6.2 cm (2.4")
• width: 3.4 cm (1.3")
• length: 3.4 cm (1.3")