RONSON 1928 First Model Enameled Junior Petrol Lighter In .925 Sterling Silver
Enameled Junior petrol lighter designed by Ronson.
This a very rare antique pocket petrol lighter created in New Jersey United States by The Ronson Art Metal Work Co. during the art deco period, back in the 1928. This is the Ronson Junior pocket lighter, model-12505, which was originally designed by Louis V. Aronson. It was masterfully crafted with great proportions in .925/.999 sterling silver and decorated with engine turned "barley" patterns topped with hard-glass blue enamel. This lighter feature the first finger push button variety. It is in great condition, with great enamel and non-monogrammed.
Period: Art-Deco 1928.
Material: Blue hard-glass enamel, .925/.999 Sterling silver and steel.
Ronson Catalogue: Model number 12505.
Model: Junior Sport, first thumb model.
Inventor: Louis V. Aronson.
Manufacturer: Ronson Art Metal Work Inc.
Original Retail Price: $ 22.50 (Ronson Catalogue).
Weight: 45.4 Grams, (29.10 Dwt).
Measurements: 42 mm by 46 mm by 12 mm, (1.65 x 1.81 x 0.47 Inches).
Marks: Stamped with the maker's mark monogram, the mark for the assay and warranty of the .925/.999 silver and signed as follows, "ART METAL WKS INC. STERLING RONSON DE LIGHT PATENTED-1673727 NEWARK NJ".
The Ronson Lighter Company
The company started as The Art Metal Works in 1897 and was incorporated on July 20, 1898, by Max Hecht, Louis Vincent Aronson and Leopold Herzig, in Newark, New Jersey. Louis V. Aronson was a huge creative driving force for the company; and, with a few business adjustments, including the addition of Alexander Harris (1910–11) as Business Manager, the company soon became World Famous. In the 1910s The Art Metal Works were producing very good quality Hood Ornaments and gained a reputation as a dependable supplier of same. All accounts state that Louis Aronson was a gifted man, who at 16 years old set up a money-making shop in his parent's home - before receiving a U.S. patent for a commercially valuable metal-plating process he developed when he was 24 years old, and he sold half the rights while retaining the Right to Use. "His experiments, which he has been conducting since his early youth, resulted in 1893 in the discovery of a process for electrically producing tinplate. Much money was expended upon improving the process... and has been of great practical value to the whole industry. Retaining its rights, he sold half the patent rights, and later used part of the proceeds to open the Art Metal Works in Newark, N.J. Soon the company was producing a variety of high-quality Lamps, Book ends, Art Statues and other decorative items, prized today for their detail in the collector marketplace.
Literature: Urban K. Cummings, Ronson, the World's Greatest Lighter: Wick Lighters 1913-1966 Bird Dog Books, California. 1992. Figure 16 Page 16. For this lighter illustrated.
Note: This Ronson petrol lighter is empty of any flammable, gas or butane substances and is ready to be ship by any carrier.
Condition: The overall condition of this Ronson petrol Junior lighter is excellent with no dents in the silver This piece was carefully inspected to guarantee the condition and authenticity.
INVENTORY REF: D090725JOCR/1.345
