7 replies to this topic

[OVERLORD]

Fleming describes Bond's lighter as an 'oxidised Ronson lighter'. Could it be something like one of these.
Ronson


Anybody know a good place to get one of these lighters, I quite like the look of them very unique.

[Byron]

Fleming describes Bond's lighter as an 'oxidised Ronson lighter'. Could it be something like one of these.
Ronson


Anybody know a good place to get one of these lighters, I quite like the look of them very unique.

It's funny, my grandpa had several of these lighters. My memory was triggered after i saw the ronson model from your link. Don't know where they are now unfortunately.

I imagine "oxidised" meant that the lighter was no longer shiny due to constant handling by Bond.

[Righty007]

Bond's lighter was "a black oxidized Ronson light, preferably well-battered."

You've got the right model but the RTL 20007 color is probably the best match. I don't know what oxidized means in terms of a lighter though.

[Byron]

Bond's lighter was "a black oxidized Ronson light, preferably well-battered."

You've got the right model but the RTL 20007 color is probably the best match. I don't know what oxidized means in terms of a lighter though.

Looks like the model you refer to RTL 20007 has a black leather finish.

[OVERLORD]

Bond's lighter was "a black oxidized Ronson light, preferably well-battered."

You've got the right model but the RTL 20007 color is probably the best match. I don't know what oxidized means in terms of a lighter though.

Looks like the model you refer to RTL 20007 has a black leather finish.

Are you sure that it has a leather finish
would be great if it was Bond's lighter they gave it the model number RTL 20007

[stromberg]

I doubt that it's the one with the leather finnish. It would have been mentioned specificly in the books. As mentioned by Byron above, "black oxidised" surely indicates that it was heavily used and never cleaned. I used to to carry vintage lighters every now and then, and they just darken after a while.

The Varaflame lighters do pop up on ebay quite a lot, very often being referred to as "James Bond's lighter". They usually start of at moderate prizes, about $10, but they use to climb towards the auction end and usually make between $50 and $100.

You can also buy a brand new one. Not sure if they're still manufactured by the old Ronson company, or if these are licensed products. Recently seen one in a tobacconists shopwindow. Can't remember the exact prize, but it was something around 120 Euros.

[Donovan]

For the heck of it I'm going to guess it looked like this. It's dated 1953. It's lighter fluid, no mention of Veraflame.

[superado]

I believe the Varaflame was introduced a year or so after CR was published in 1953, so I agree with the above post. I personally have two "petrol" Ronsons issued during WWII in a black finish, which differ slightly it seems in terms of color application (and I hope that one of them is "oxidized," or at least finished in what Fleming may have thought as being "oxidized" since his technical expertise was not foolproof). I know that the model of one of them is the "Standard," which looks like the ligher in the above post though models did resemble one another to some extent. My lighters do not have that chrome plate in the middle and neither of them are covered in leather. To the best of my knowlege, my lighters were issued to servicemen and I could easily see how they may be what Fleming had in mind because of the military relevance.