The Cadillac of Lighters: Dunhill Rollagas
-
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 Vauen Pipes |
7 Fresh Moonshine Pipes |
3 Fresh Lasse Skovgaard Pipes |
48 Fresh Ropp Pipes |
12 Fresh Claudio Cavicchi Pipes |
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. 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.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. Naturally a Virginia-Perique, it is enhanced with a traditional core of black Cavendish. In the tin it holds much promise, with a lightly bready and very woody, if ever-so-slightly sour, aroma. After some time acclimating to air, the bouquet softens further and offers hints of the burley with some chocolaty notes wafting through the more dominant dry grassy aspect. The tin art is of a coin-style bas-relief bust, presumably of a founding Sutliff brother, à la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blend’s description: Reflecting on Sutliffs 175 years of tobacco excellence, we came across a brand that embodies true value, SILVER QUARTER. This name pays homage to Sutliffs roots, the legacy of two brothers who popularized pipe smoking in the burgeoning mining society of San Francisco. We celebrate this heritage with a coin cut composed of the finest African Virginias, complemented by a core of Perique and Black Cavendish. The tin notes are, forgive the pun, on the nose for a good VaPer blend: mild tart sweetness peeking out from behind dried hay and slight chocolate undertones, with a lightly tannic finish of weathered oak. It is always a joy to prepare a coin cut, my preference being to put a few in my palm and vigorously warm my hands together to fully break them apart. These well-formed discs pack and light easily, and smoke with little prodding to the end of the bowl. For technical points it scores well—it smokes light, and it’s easy to tend the ember. While it gets sharp after a few quick bowls, pacing should be heeded to easily smoke down to the heel without inviting bite. Of the flavor, though, I am left a bit wanting. There are tart and high notes aplenty, but very little of the lemony citrus I would anticipate, as well as scant midtones; they tend more toward the red wine-vinegary and sour. The flavors are muted, also, lacking the sweetness and piquancy of other marques—the small measure of Perique tickles the nose now and again with peppery hints, and there is a smidge of a deeper sweetness to be found in the Cavendish from puff to puff, but overall it lacks some dynamism. The Virginias, to my palate, come off a bit on the dry side, and here they dominate the blend. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are neutral, again evincing more of the dry, woody, tartly tannic end of the spectrum. The blend has plenty of polish, but not enough depth or richness (*yet) to make it a standout. Here, comparisons are inevitable: Luxury Bullseye Flake has more sweetness, both from its Virginia as well as its Cavendish, and a better finish; Davidoff is similar but with a pronounced umami that is absent here; as for Escudo, I haven’t had any fresh tins lately so it would be unfair to compare. While it rates as a solid, fairly mild smoke, particularly to lovers of the genre, it does not surprise with any exceptional flavors. To be fair, all the boxes have been checked for the blend to benefit from some real aging, and it would be worth checking in on this after a couple of years sealed away. I’ve set half my tin aside to sample again in a month or two, in case I’m merely suffering from the lingering effects of parosmia, and will amend this review in that case. Maple Shadows II, on the other hand, made up for the weeks of sniffling and sneezing I’d endured. Offered in a full 8 ounce tin with delightfully spooky Halloween art, it’s (hopefully) enough to last through the season. Somehow I had missed this last year, so it’s a real pleasure to get some in my candy bucket this year. As the chilling winds of autumn draw eerie prattle from contorted, deciduous limbs, we find ourselves possessed by the spirit of the season. Bewitched by a dissonant charm, we’ve created Maple Shadows. In a season that is defined by the unlikely harmony of treats and frights, we’ve joined the enchanting sweetness of maple with the earthy spice of Dark Fired Kentucky for a smoking experience that captures the senses with an otherworldly fusion of flavor. This may be the best aromatic blend Sutliff’s ever made—and they make a ton of them. First off, it’s not overbearing in the least—quite the opposite, it is also one of the more restrained aromatics they’ve ever made, with a clear but very light topping that melds oh-so-well with their choice Kentucky added to the mix. Opening the tin, the sweet maple is up front and center, but so too is the must of fallen leaves, bready pie crusts, and a crackling fire in the hearth—a perfect invocation of Herbstdüfte in a can. Packing best in an open and capacious bowl, the flavoring is subtle, and recedes to the background while puffing. With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
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.