Collectible Ronson Lighters

Light Up With a Ronson Cigarette Lighter

Ronson was founded as Art Metal Works in Newark, New Jersey, by Louis V. Aronson, who won a worldwide competition for creating a safety match before turning his attention to building cigarette lighters. Ronson has produced many collectible lighters. Find out more about the vintage, preowned lighters available from Ronson on eBay.

• Ronson Banjo lighter: The Banjo is named after its shape and is one of the first automatic lighters. The Banjo was designed so that users pushed a button on the 2.25-inch silver lighter for it to produce a flame. The company created the lighter starting in 1926, and they continued to produce it for more than three years before replacing it with the De-lite lighter.
• Ronson De-lite lighter: For more than 20 years, Ronson offered their De-lite lighters, producing over 85 versions of them. The original ones say "PATD. OTHER PATS. PDG." on their bottoms. These lighters come in a variety of sizes with the smallest one standing about 2 inches high. Many De-lite Ronson lighters are wrapped in leather with a large silver oval on both sides.
• Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Jetlite Ronson Lighter Gray Skull Butane Cigar Pipe: This butane torch lighter is generally wind-proof and easily adjustable, and it has a picture of the Harley gray skull on the front.

Zippo currently owns and continues to produce Ronson lighters. However, the vintage Ronson lighters are collectors items because they were produced and marketed during the 1900s. Lighters made in the 1900s are considered vintage and collectors items because they were made with significant decorative detail.

Ronson made its first lighter, called the Wonderliter, in 1913 while under the name Art Metal Works. This pocket cigarette lighter contains a metal wand with an asbestos filament on the end. The 2.25-inch-tall silver lighter has a flint on its bottom. The design is intended for users to strike the filament across the flint to create fire.

Touch Tip lighters were designed with a striker wand and wick holder. The lighter is designed for the user to remove the rod from its holder and touch the wands tip to the igniter to produce a flame. Some Touch Tip designs have side pockets intended to hold cigarettes. Here are some of the Touch Tip designs:

• Miniature bar design
• Various animals holding or placed by an ashtray
• Pipe holder with a table lighter beside it
• Table lighter with a clock and calendar
• Automatic cigarette dispensers with a table lighter beside them