-
James Foster - Jun 11, 2016
- 9 min read
James Foster
While they are not the most expensive lighters you can own, they do come pretty darn close if you’re buying new. Hopefully this article will give you some insight into what to look for – and why buying new may not be the best option for you if you’re looking to add a Rollagas to your collection.
Dunhill is known for several iconic style lighters like the Unique – also known as the original Old-Boy style lighter, the Aquarium table lighters, the Tallboys and the Rollagas. Unfortunately, researching the history of Dunhill lighters though is like peeling back an onion, slicing it open, cutting your fingers, crying and not knowing if its because you cut your fingers or it’s the onion.
My story starts this past January when I decided I was going to add a Dunhill Rollagas to my collection. Knowing that I didn’t quite want to spend the money to buy a new lighter, I went to ebay and started searching for a used , serviced, and warrantied lighter. After snagging one from a reputable seller, I began my research. This is where the train went off the tracks.
Dear James,
Thank you for your email, which our customer services team has forwarded to me.
I’m afraid we have a very strict company policy at the moment that we are not able to promote or discuss our lighters to the press. Sadly our policy means that I am unable to help you in this occasion. Should our policy change, I would be happy to send information.
Apologies for this inconvenience to you and your proposed feature, but thank you for your interest in the dunhill brand.
Best wishes,
H
Global PR Coordinator
Alfred Dunhill Limited
5-7 Mandeville Place
London W1U 3AY
www.dunhill.com
So an iconic brand doesn’t want to talk about it’s products? This made no sense. So I did the next best thing, I turned to what I’ve found out is the best hidden resource for vintage Dunhill lighters: The Vintage Dunhill Rollagas Collectors Group on Facebook. Not only did I find a wealth of knowledge I also had a chance to sit down with the reputable dealer who sold me the lighter on ebay, David Pitts. We had a chance to chat about the brand over the years so I’ll cover some history and then we’ll dig a bit deeper with a brief interview with David.
You may or may not know this, but Dunhill did not manufacture their own lighters, the brand is synonymous though with many patents and firsts. These are in no small part to whom we’d call the father of the Rollagas as we know it, Conrad Zellweger at the La Nationale factories in Switzerland. Conrad, Louis Willie, Louis Bourquin, Leon Bolle improved upon their ideas and developed the patents that are still used today. Things like the filling valve , burner system, and flame adjuster all came out of the Swiss factories and each of these were patented by Zellweger .
As far as Dunhill as a brand of lighters are concerned, they introduced the Dunhill Unique around 1923 which was produced by Wise and Green (the lift arm patent). In 1926 they bought them out and made the Unique exclusive for Dunhill. They made many different styles of the Unique and it continued to be their main design for decades. Many of the more modern Dunhill associated designs actually were initiated by the designers that worked for Dunhills subsidiary company Parker Beacon. They first used the roller on their Uniques and other lighters and were actually the first to make the Rollalite in 1939. The Rollagas was patented in 1956 and mass production was began in 1957. Ironically the patent on the bottom of many Rollagases only pertains to the gas inlet valve and not the external design nor the other valves. Those came from Zellwegers patents at La National.
The Rollagas was actually introduced in 1953 in limited production and was not in their catalogs until after the patent was granted in 1956. Its design was very close to Dunhill’s popular petrol model the Rollalite and initially the Rollagas was only offered in gold and silver plated “engine turned” barley-corn pattern bodies with smooth lids. Other patterns were offered beginning in the early 60’s including the Florentine pattern , hobnail, and “engine turned,” diamond patterns. Dunhill only offered a few solid silver and 9kt gold models in very limited amounts. They brought out the Series 70 Rollagas in 1969 to compete with Duponts wide bodies and this model was the first Dunhill lighter with the concealed hinge. The concealed hinge made it on the standard Rollagas in 1971.
James: How did we get to our current modern rollgas lighter? – i.e. what components do we see on other previous lighters to get to the perfection of this lighter?
David: It was a slow progression. But if you look at Dunhill and especially their Parker Beacon lighters you can see how the Unique overtime transformed into the modern Rollagas. Once Parker added roller to the unique the race was on. The Roller was the key in my opinion to this transformation. The Rollalite was the culmination of Dunhill’s experience and success with Petrol lighters. Its size, shape and weight are perfect. The flint apparatus was easy to operate and worked consistently. So when Butane became an option for fuel the first Rollagas models looked almost identical to the Rollalite. After several years Dunhill made more and more models showing much creativity in the designs on their lighters.
James: Could you briefly talk about how the brand has changed over the past years?
David: I think a change certainly did occur after the Dunhill Family sold the company. Now it is owned by Richemont Group. I believe the discontinuation of the original Rollagas internal valve components with the introduction of the new generation Rollagas was not to improve the function or durability of the lighter but to make it nearly impossible for anyone but their authorized repair services to service. Dunhill will sell no lighter parts new or old to individuals… just their authorized repair services. By contract they prohibit their authorized repair services from selling parts to individuals as well.
James: How easy it is to work on dunhill lighters?
David: It certainly depends on the lighter! The old petrol lighters are fairly easy to replace their wicks and packing. Aftermarket kits are available to service the original Rollagas and all their butane lighters that use the same or similar valve system. This would include the Paris made solid silver Aldunil and Sylphide; TallBoy, LongBoy & Wheat sheath table lighters; Series 70 & the rare S.S gas lighter. The lighters the kits will not work on are the S-Type & Dress lighters from the early 1970’s; the gas Uniques and Sylphides (made in England); the Gemline & Japanese made Slimline, and of course the New Generation Rollagas.
The main difference in the service kits sold on ebay is the instructions (if provided). I started selling kits after I had become fairly competent because the kits I first tried had very little instructions other than about 6 sentences….I have sold kits on ebay for about 5 years now and put a lot of time and thought into the instructions. I wrote the instructions so that anyone that can read instructions can complete the task. A Rollagas parts schematics are included and make a good reference. I sell my kits on ebay under my account: vintagedunhillrollagascollectors.
James: how did you get into restoring and repairing dunhill lighters?
David: I inherited a 1980’s Rollagas about 10 years ago and enjoyed using it for a few years until it started to leak. Like most people I put it in my top dresser drawer for a few years and forgot about it. After I retired I had a lot of time on my hands and started selling a few things on ebay for my father. Out of the blue I searched for Dunhill lighters and was amazed at all the models that were available. I also found a service kit and I bought one. I felt great satisfaction after I got my beloved Rollagas working perfectly again. So much so I started buying the cheaper ones and servicing those. It wasn’t long before I had a little collection.. and like I have now seen so many others after me it becomes an addiction. After almost a year I became so comfortable with my skills I started buying lighters just to service and resale. This gave me more exposure and people started requesting as to whether I would service their lighters. I charge a fraction of what the Dunhill authorized repair services. It is not about the money for me. It is a great feeling knowing that I am putting someones decades old lighter back into service and out of their top dresser drawer.
James: Quality wise how do you rate the Dunhill to say a Dupont lighter?
David: I believe DuPonts are excellent lighters… better than the new generation Rollagas, but they are more difficult to service than the original Rollagas. To me the simplicity of the Rollagas valve system is pure beauty. That is why I collect them and devote much of my time working on them.
James: Now the Elephant in the room – Why would you not buy a new Dunhill lighter?
David: I have over 200 different vintage Dunhill Rollagas models in my collection and just 3 of the new generation Rollagases. I am not impressed with the quality of the new lighters especially for the price they now charge for a new one. I usually sell a mint or near mint vintage Rollagas for less than 1/3 of the price of a new one. I have had trouble with my 3 New Generation Rollagases not with leaks but with achieving a satisfactory flame height. Generally they cannot get a flame over 1/2 an inch. Unlike my vintage Dunhill Rollagases I cannot work on them myself and would have to pay over $140 each for a service. It would be out of the question for me to be able to keep all my lighters working paying that much for repairs.
In Summation I would like to thank David Pitts, Edu Estevez, and the rest of the fine individuals over at the Vintage Dunhill Collectors group on Facebook, without their help bringing the history and information to you would not have been possible. I hope that this sheds some light on the brand and that you find the time to marvel at the masterpiece that is the Dunhill Rollagas. Also thanks as usual to Mike Sandoval for his photography skills. The mystery as to why Dunhill will not provide information or history on their lighters and brand continues, hopefully one day they’ll once again be a bit more transparent.
 James Foster goes by the online handle of Pylorns in the forums, and he is the creator of an app for keeping track of your tobacco cellar inventory called The Pipe Tool and serves as the President of the Austin Pipe Club. |
Written by James Foster
More Pipes and Tobaccos Articles
4 Responses
Smokingpipes.com Updates
12 Fresh Radice Pipes |
34 Fresh Rossi Pipes |
9 Fresh Dunhill Pipes |
36 Fresh Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation Pipes |
120 Fresh Savinelli Pipes |
Recent Posts
I remember the first time I heard someone else say it. “How many pipes do I need? Just one more.” It’s glib, sure, a bit of a joke, but it also rings a bell of truth, at least to me. I certainly have “enough” pipes, but pipes are seductive little things. Just when we think we’re all set, we have enough, another will come along that tempts us beyond any sense of reason. I suppose it’s the same way with any sort of collecting. There’s always another white whale we’re in pursuit of. When we finally track that one down, though, another will almost inevitably breach the surface, taking its place as the new object of our desire, enticing us to change course and set sail once again. But, there’s a potential problem with having a lot of pipes. Maybe. The more pipes we may have, the harder it can be to keep them in rotation. It makes sense. We tend to gravitate towards our current faves, the ones that most appeal to us for whatever reason, and sometimes, maybe they stay in rotation longer than they really should. The side-effect of this, of course, is that another favored pipe might end up too-long forgotten. That’s exactly what happened recently. Exhibit A: The Castello pictured is one that has been long overlooked. It’s a Trademark shape #55. It’s a really nice example of the shape. The red pearlized stem is beautifully done. The wood isn’t really anything special to look at, but it’s evenly covered, without any bald spots. When I look at it, I wonder why it wasn’t done in the more typical dark ruby-red finish that adorns most Trademarks. I’ve seen a great deal of variation amongst the grade over the years, including one really nice bent-bulldog that left the factory with a brown sandblasted finish. (For those who don’t know, Trademark has long been the lowest Castello smooth grade, usually finished in a dark red.) Was this a stamping/grading error, or is there just more leeway in the grade than we’ve come to expect? I might never know. This example is from the early 1970s, maybe even the late 1960s, identified by the upper case Ks in the grade designation. (On Sea Rock and Old Antiquari pipes, the Ks reflect the size, while with the smooth finishes, Trademark, Castello and Collection, the Ks represent the relative grade.) It has been living in a different rack than the one housing the majority of my #55s. I don’t recall why I put it there, but as many of us can relate to, rack space is often at a premium. I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different. “Oh, you? Why are you there? I remember you smoke pretty well.” Yeah, I sometimes talk to my pipes – one of many quirks, I suppose. I won’t begin to worry until they start talking back. I grabbed it from the rack, dusted it off, and decided to give it a fill with a bowl of a slightly aged VA/perique blend, Telegraph Hill, from 2018. What a delightful smoke! At five years, the tobacco is expressing a lot of the complexities of aged Virginias and the perique adds a delightful fruitiness. When young, the composition is a bit brighter, maybe a little spicier, but time has polished any edges, and amplified the sweeter notes. Like the pipe, I’d forgotten about this blend for quite a while, but one evening in March, after chatting with my good friend Nate, who is quite a fan of it, I decided it might be time to revisit it. I got a couple of fresh ones, and excavated a couple older tins from the library. I normally reach for Fillmore when I want a VA/perique thing because of its boldness and depth, but in revisiting this one, I’m finding something soothing and comfortable about it that I’ve really been enjoying, both young and aged. Sticking with the theme of the forgotten, and as a perhaps interesting tidbit to the photographically inclined, I shot the pictures for this month’s column with my old Nikkor-O 35mm/2.0 mounted on my trusty Nikon Df. The last time I used this lens, it was adapted to one of my Fujifilm bodies, and I didn’t care much for the results, so I put it away and pretty much forgot about it. But, I’ve recently been exploring some of my old kit, deciding what to keep, what to pass along, and this one once again came to my attention, kind of like that old Castello. On the Df, there’s something about its vintage rendering that I find truly appealing. Another forgotten treasure, and just like with that old pipe, it seems that, at least today, everything old is new again. If your collection is on the large side, are there pipes or tobaccos that you’ve all but forgotten, only to come back to them one day to find yourself wondering why? Maybe it’s just another fun dimension to this endlessly fascinating journey.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 640. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Ben Rapaport. Ben has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and book author. His first book on pipes was published in 1972, and his latest book – his 10th – is out now in very limited quantities. The distribution has already sold out, but you can still get a copy of “The Wide World of Wood Tobacco Pipes. Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Creativity” by contacting him directly at ben70gray@gmail.com. At the top of the show we’ll be turning the tables on our recurring Ask the Pipemaker segment. This time, Jeff Gracik will ask the questions, which Brian will answer as a pipe collector, and you can give your answers too.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 639. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Per Billhäll. Per is the owner of Scandinavian Pipes, which is an online retailer of high grade pipes. He started smoking pipes in the 1960s. His first high grade pipe was made by Hans “Former” Nielsen, who is one of the living legends from Denmark. That led to Per becoming a huge pipe and tobacco collector, and show attendee where he became well known. Along with pipe book author Jan Andersson, they started The Pipe Club of Sweden in 1991. Then in 1999, Per started “Scan Pipes”. He is now one of the pipe retailing legends from Sweden. At the top of the show Brian will talk about holiday blends, and other special pipe tobacco blends.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 638. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Fae “The Sassy Pipe Lady” Simmons. Fae is the owner of Tobacco Treasures, which sells new, vintage, & estate pipes, and smoking accessories on Etsy. She has been in business since 2017, and has been surrounded by pipes and tobacco most of her life. Her father and his brother smoked pipes, and so does Fae. Her husband is also a retired tobacconist that worked all over the industry from coast to coast for several different companies in the industry. She has a great story of how her business got started with a great inventory of unsmoked vintage pipes. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Ok, so it’s that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the cats from reaching a paw into the greenery. It’s also the time of year when your pipe-smoking-significant other makes vast hints about a new pipe. That’s to be expected since he or she was a good boy or girl during the year. Yes, ladies smoke pipes, too. Oh, you want an example? Okay, try Actress Greta Garbo, Millicent Fenwick, Mary Frith, and my late grandmother (who died when she was 93) dipped snuff and smoked a cob occasionally. So now that we have settled that the gentler side of life will puff a pipe too, let’s move on to the upcoming biggest holiday of all. Of course, that huge event is brought to us by the hefty fellow in a red suit, puffing his pipe all the way in a sled filled with presents, being led by a reindeer with a red nose. Or some such. That’s Santa Claus, of course. Becoming a bit more serious, Christmas is such a wonderful time for families and friends. It’s also quite special for pipe puffers. For many of us, this brings up a nostalgic look back to our pipe-smoking or cigar-smoking friends who have died during the current year. A great journalist pal whom I often joined in a local brick-and-mortar pipe and cigar shop. I puffed my pipe, and occasional cigar, as he enjoyed a cigar. He died in October and will be missed. On the happier side of things, Christmas is also a time when mind workers of the world renew their collections with fresh additions. Pundit included. A French passion has overtaken Pundit, from reading more Albert Camus, a heavy cigarette smoker, as were many French intellectuals of a certain time. Instead of cigarettes many of us prefer the more relaxed enjoyment of pipes for that “calm and objective judgment” in the comings and goings of the world. This brings me to French pipes. While visiting France once in the long ago, I happened by a “Tabac” shop in Paris, Tabac Des Vosges. I purchased a beauty of a Chacom bent. I also later bought a Ropp made from ancient briar. To learn more about the dawn of briar pipes and beginnings, take a peek at a well-done piece by Davin Hylton in Pipe Line on April 12, 2023, on Saint-Claude, France, the birthplace of briar. Also in the long back when, on a cold Christmas afternoon, Pundit wandered into an Atlanta bricks and mortar pipe shop to look around. There, resting in an enclosed glass counter was an exquisite Comoy. An older gent, smoking a beautiful bent, asked me if I wanted to look at that pipe. It had a $100 price tag. A college student working for a grocery store chain to help with college tuition at the time, Pundit didn’t have one hundred cents, let alone a C note! I declined and found a $5 basket pipe. A Christmas tradition had just begun. Since that early time, Pundit has made it a holiday ritual to either reward himself, or a special friend, with pipe or tobacco. A Claudio Cavicchi would be nice. Just sayin.’ And now for a couple of December-born Pipe Smokers of the Past: Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on Dec. 30, 1865, and died on Jan. 18, 1936. I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble—Rudyard Kipling. Martin Van Buren, born Dec. 5, 1782, and died July 24, 1862, U.S. President, 1837-1841 As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it—Martin Van Buren. And one more note to recall a deceased World War II veteran who loved William Somerset Maugham, the author. Maugham, a pipe smoker, was born in Paris, France, on Jan. 25, 1874, and died on Dec. 16, 1965. One cool afternoon as the veteran and I talked while sitting in his backyard patio, he looked off into the distance as if studying something. Nothing in particular. Just looking. He turned to me and said if I wanted to learn about life, “read Somerset Maugham.” I did. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know’ –W. Somerset Maugham And now a Parting Shot: Any day with an old friend with pipes and tobacco is a good day.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 637. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Nate King. Most people know of Nate as an excellent pipe artisan. He also has an honorary Master of Pipes degree from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club, and is a member of the prestigious Confrérie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude. To be inducted into the Confrérie, this past May Nate travelled to Saint-Claude, France with master tobacco blender G.L. Pease, who was also inducted. It was quite a time in France, and at the ceremony. We’ll hear all about those adventures on the show. At the top of the show we’ll continue the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with six of his Satou Dublin-shape pipes.
Great article Pylorns, thank you, I learned quite a lot.
Philobeddoe
Thanks!
Great Research, James!
Nice introduction on the very best of lighters. Yes S.T.DuPonts are excellent too but they don’t feel the same way in your hand.