Franck Muller And S.T. Dupont Team Up For $65,000 Lighter
It's large. It's imposing. It's a luxury lighter and timepiece combined into one. Watchmaker Franck Muller and accessories creator S.T. Dupont have teamed up to release the Master Lighter, a double-flame cigar lighter that houses a skeleton watch with a three-day power reserve. The sophisticated piece, which debuted earlier this month at World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie in Switzerland, comes in four different versions with prices ranging from $56,400 to $65,300. The watch company says it has already started taking orders for the limited-edition lighter.
“We have established a waiting list and are now taking reservations for the lighters,” says Gary Girdvainis, who handles public relations and communication for Franck Muller USA.
Like a fine wristwatch, the Master Lighter has an exterior made of stainless steel and sapphire crystal. According to Franck Muller, the repeating geometric pattern on the outside of the lighter takes inspiration from S.T. Dupont’s “Fire Head” guilloche as well as the spiral “Clous de Paris” pattern seen on the dials of its Curvex CX collection.
The lighter features two panes of sapphire crystal, one on the front, another on the back. The front crystal protects its lacquered guilloche dial and the watch’s minute and hour hand. On the reverse side, the crystal offers a window into the inner workings of Franck Muller's Calibre FM 1740-LI-STD Skeleton movement, which sits behind a central seconds hand.
“There’s watch hands on both sides of the lighter,” says Girdvainis. “There’s an aperture that goes through the middle of the lighter’s gas tank, and the watch hands’ axis es through the center.”
The Master Lighter’s skeleton movement is decorated with elaborate finishing, and includes mirror polishing on the regulator assembly, chamfering and satin brushing on the mainplate and bridges, drawing on the bridge flanks and diamond polishing on the sinks. There’s also circular satin brushing on the wheels, drums and barrel covers.
A crown on the side of the lighter is used for setting the hour and minute hand, as well as manually winding the watch. Fully wound, the Master Lighter boasts a three-day power reserve, well suited for a weekend of cigar smoking.
And when firing up, the Master Lighter will undoubtedly turn heads. Not only because of its looks, but from the noise it makes. Like many S.T. Dupont lighters, the Master Lighter makes a satisfying “ping” sound when you open the lid. After opening, a flick of the horizontal flint striker produces a twin soft flame for toasting the foot of your cigar. For fuel, the lighter runs on S.T. Dupont’s Red Gas Refill.
The Master Lighter is a hefty piece, weighing approximately 10 1/2 ounces and measuring about 2 1/2 inches long, 1 1/2 inches wide and 3/4 inches thick. While you could theoretically lug it around in your jacket, you might prefer to keep it in your lounge as a table lighter. That is, if you can get your hands on it.
Franck Muller plans to release just 352 units of the Master Lighter.
“It’s extremely limited,” says Girdvainis. “Only 88 of each version will be produced.”
The differences between the lighters lie mostly in their dial options. The White variant features a silver dial with a sunburst pattern. The Blue model’s dial shows off a vibrant shade of blue. Both lighters are priced at $56,400.
The Black version, priced at $58,700, has a black PVD-coated lighter body and a black dial. Its luminous numerals glow in the dark. The final model, called Color Dreams, is emblazoned with Franck Muller’s signature colored numerals on its dial. On its reverse side, the lighter displays a special colorized skeleton movement made of aluminum. The whimsically named model will set your bank back the most, with a price tag of $65,300.
Final assembly of all four versions of the Master Lighter takes place at Watchland, Franck Muller's factory in Genthod, Switzerland.
