Advert: Ronson Crown and pocket lighters, 1947

This Ronson magazine advertisement was published in Life magazine on the 27^th of October, 1947. It depicts the Ronson 'Crown' table lighter and some pocket lighters like: Ronson 'Mastercase', Ronson 'Adonis', Ronson 'Whirlwind' and the Ronson 'Standard'. 

Advert: Ronson Crown, Touch-Tip Table Lighters, 1941

The Ronson magazine advertisements from LIFE published on 1 December 1941 depicts among others the best sold table lighter ever - the Ronson Crown - this cigarette lighter was manufactured almost unchanged for more than 18 years! Other table lighters were not yet described on this blog: both are Ronson Touch-Tips: Touch-Tip with Cigarette Box and the uncommon Touch-Tip Oval.

Advert: Ronson Queen Anne, Decanter Deluxe, Crown, Adonis, Whirlwind, Standard..., 1947

Vintage magazine advertisements and catalogs are the most reliable source of information on lighters. Ronson is the best example for a broad variety of great adverts - the best years are the 1940s and 1950s. Below a Ronson magazine advertisement from LIFE published on 24 November 1947 depicting: 

• table lighters - Ronson Queen Anne, Decanter Deluxe and Crown;
• pocket lighters - Ronson Standard, Whirlwind, Mastercase, Adonis and Banker.

Sarome, Ronson Crown imitation, ca. 1953

This Sarome table lighter is probably the best example of a fine imitation of the Ronson Crown. It has even a better construction than the original. The Sarome wick lighter was manufactured between 1953 and 1954 in Japan.

Sarome Co., Ltd. was founded in March 1940 by Kunijiro Segawa in Tokyo, Japan and it was specializing mainly in manufacturing toys. The first cigarette lighters were manufactured in February 1952. Since 1955 butane gas lighters were added to the company's portfolio. The Sarome company still exist and is well known for its high quality luxury cigarette lighters.

The base of the lighter as well the lighter insert are chrome plate. The lighter insert, in opposite to the Ronson Crown, is removable which makes it more user friendly regarding its maintenance. A very good quality of craftsmanship in terms of quality. Not many of these lighters were made which makes them a very rare find.

It is worth to know that SAROME means 'god of flames'.

The bottom of the base is padded with green felt.

Marked on the bottom of the lighter insert:

SGW. MFG. CO.
SAROME RTM. NO. 29659
SUPER LIGHTER

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Scarcity: very rare

Value for good–mint condition: $65.00–120.00 (approx €45.00–85.00)

Weight: 210 grams (0,46 pounds)

Dimensions:

• height: 6.0 cm (2.36")
• width: 4.5 cm (1.8")
• depth: 7.5 cm (3.0")

Ronson Varaflame Crown, 1959

The Ronson Varaflame Crown was first manufactured in 1959 and the production ceased in 1966. It was made in Woodbridge in the United States, in France and also probably in the United Kingdom. It is a nice and heavy silver-plated butane lighter. The swirl design and name "Crown" was inherited from the Ronson Crown bestseller manufactured since 1936 as a wick lighter.

The lighter insert is a typical Varaflame fitment used in many different Ronson models. It has a fingertip flame control and is partly silver plated and partly chrome plated. The base of the lighter has a green felt pad and the silver plate is protected by a transparent lacquer.

Marked on the bottom of the base:

"Varaflame
Crown"
fashioned by
RONSON (R)
Woodbridge, N.J.
U.S.A.

Type: gas (butane) lighter

Scarcity: uncommon

Value for very good–mint condition: $35.00–60.00 (approx €25.00–50.00)

Weight: 475 grams (1 pound)

Dimensions:

• height: 7.8 cm (3.1")
• width: 7.2 cm (2.8")
• depth: 7.2 cm (2.8")

The Ronson Crown was seen in the movie Harper (1966) with Paul Newman, Robert Wagner and Lauren Bacall. 

 

Ronson Crown Table Lighter, 1936-1954

Ronson Crown is the most popular and probably the longest produced Ronson table lighter ever. It was first manufactured in 1936. There are two versions of the Crown. First produced between 1936 and 1948 (Newark, N.J., USA) has a radius on the top of the snuffer cap next to the flint wheel. (see pic. 2) The second (see pic. 1) one has a flat top snuffer cap and was produced from 1949 till 1954 (Canada, England, USA). There was also a butane version of the Ronson Crown lighter marketed in the 1960s called Ronson Varaflame Crown.

This wick lighter is handy and silver plate. The earliest versions of Ronson Crown had a red felt pad around the base rim, the others have a green one.

This lighter was sold in very different configurations after 1949: with cigarette box, urn, tray and even candle holder set. The newer version was also available gold plated and rhodium plated which are rare.

This model and its design was often copied by companies situated in Occupied Japan and Japan (marketed under such names as Baltic, Hilton, Sarome "Crown" and some others).

Marked on the bottom of the base:

(1)
RONSON U.S.PAT.RE. NO.19,023. ART METAL.WKS.INC NEWARK, N.J.U.S.A. US Patent No 19,023 Art Metal Work Inc.Newark USA

(2)
RONSON (R) NEWARK, N.J. U.S.A. U.S. PATENT.RE.NO.19,023 CANADA PATS.-288,148-289,889 RONSON "CROWN" TRADEMARK

There are also other options available - 10 more at least.

Type: petrol (wick) lighter

Scarcity: common (rhodium and gold plate finishes are rare)

Value for good–mint condition: $15.00–45.00 (approx €10.00–30.00)

Weight: 290 grams (0,64 pounds)

Dimensions:

• height: 6.2 cm (2.4")
• width: 4.5 cm (1.8")
• depth: 7.5 cm (3.0")

The Ronson Crown was seen in the Humphrey Bogart movie Deadline U.S.A. (1952).