Vintage Ronson Cigarette Lighter Encased in Silver and Turquoise [R]

One of the first cigarette lighters was called a “wind match” and was made in the early 1900s by a company called Art Metal Works. This lighter is a vintage Ronson Sport, manufactured in the 1950s by the Ronson Company which had previously been Art Metal Works.

The process for the Navajo artisan covering the cigarette lighter required securely twisting a sheet of stamped silver around the lighter and soldering the ends. The addition of a small piece of turquoise adds to the charm of this lighter.

Condition: the lighter no longer works

Provenance: this Ronson Cigarette Lighter Encased in Silver and Turquoise is from a gentleman in Colorado

Recommended Reading: The Great Southwest of the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway, edited by Martha Weigle and Barbara Babcock, Heard Museum 1996.