Since you can have eight of the "tributes" (fakes) for that price, the conclusion is obvious for me (though those with the real McCoys might be pissed that some of the coolness of an $800 lighter is gone, as plebes like me use a $25 thing that looks like the high priced one)
Granted the counterfeits weigh in at 5 ounces whereas the real ones are around 4.25 ounces, but not that many people can detect such a slight difference. The one thing that really stood out was that the butane refill colors did not match up. It seemed that all of the counterfeits required the red butane refills regardless of what model had been copied. I bought an all purpose adapter for around ten bucks so it was never really an issue. But these are indeed not the real McCoy and they are not going to have all of the bells and whistles of a real dupont lighter. But, for the dollar, they are not a bad deal. I got one of the Ligne2 Black Chinese Lacquer and Palladium and one of the Ligne2 Gold lighters. Both still work today, (I picked them up in the mid/late nineties).
No doubt. Mine is still pinging away at twenty-five plus years. No issues or complaints what so ever. I picked up the fakes when I worked in a tobacco store. I wanted something that I could pull out to light smokes for the customers and did not want to risk anything happening, (like one day it go missing), while at work. There is nothing quite like having the real thing. Just saying that for the money, the fakes are not bad lighters.
I went with an adapter long ago. The red working on mine seemed to be batch specific. One year we would see fakes that only red worked on and then the next year it would be blue/green etc. It looked like whatever was outsourced that year was what they used, at least that's what our rep led us to believe.
Not really that big of a shock. Dupont does defend when they spot something, but the majority of auctions on ebay today only say "S.T. Lighter" implying that it is a Dupont and they end before any real action can be taken. Every so often ebay will shut down the auctions, but they re-appear as soon as they are closed. For quite some time, Dupont would only accept lighters for repair or adjustments if they were sent to them by an authorized dealer. (Not sure if they still do this). I guess it's like Rolex, Gucci, Pier Cardin, etc. If there is a market, someone will always try to exploit it.
, I have an old lacquered but the hood is a bit awry after a nasty fall and I do not have the courage to send it repair for $ 200 ... :|
