Apologies to
@Bassman65 for veering slightly off course here; the modern clone is an interesting option!
Regarding the date, I found the lighter in a box with stuff from the 40s, including an old condenser aluminum pipe that was only made briefly in the late 40s. Both the pipe and this lighter were engraved with my dad’s signature. I know dad worked in a jewelry store after WW2 and I just assumed he did the engravings at that time. I have seen some patent info on-line that leads me to believe dad’s Beattie is a revised version of the original patent, allowing the lighter to be filled by removing a screw at the bottom, rather than slipping off the case. I’ll attach a picture below of what I believe dad’s lighter case would have looked like.
Another interesting fact, dad’s Beattie will not take Zippo flints. It requires a thicker flint. I buy torch flints at the hardware store and put them in a drill and spin them against sandpaper until they fit in the flint tube. It does make a lot of sparks!
I could be wrong about the dates if Dad had someone engrave the pipe and lighter using his signature as a pattern. If this was the case, the engravings could have been done pretty much anytime. But dad was a pretty frugal guy and I find it hard to believe he’d pay someone to do something he could have done himself. We didn’t have any metal engraving stuff at the house when I grew up, but lots of wood carving and gun stock tools, so I’m pretty sure dad owned the lighter before he moved to Alaska in the late 40s.
View attachment 361988
