This Ultra-Luxe Lighter From S.T. Dupont & Franck Muller Doubles As A Skeleton Watch
An outrageously upscale smoking accessory that starts at $66,000.
Conventional wisdom separates the functionality of lighters and wristwatches, but a luxe new offering from S.T. Dupont challenges that notion entirely, and in rather impressive fashion.
S.T. Dupont and Franck Muller just debuted the Master Lighter, which is indeed two things at once: A handsome lighter that really does the job, and a timekeeping apparatus with as complicated a movement as any in haute horology. Billed as the “first skeleton-watch lighter with a power reserve,” it’s something of a mad science experiment that appears to pull off both functions seamlessly.
The eye-catching effort, available in four distinct color combinations, took more than two years and melded “Franck Muller’s masterful watchmaking with the precious metal work skill of the S.T. Dupont craftsmen,” S.T. Dupont said. The result is a double-sided skeleton watch with a three-day power reserve — resting within the body of a crisply designed lighter.
One side tracks hours and minutes across Franck Muller’s signature sunray-stamped lacquered dial, while the “other side of the lighter reveals the watch’s skeleton movement in all its glory,” S.T. Dupont noted. For good measure, a second dial rests behind that skeleton movement, while the hours and minutes axis runs through the center of the lighter — all without impeding its functionality.
There’s much to love in terms of the intricate design for both lovers of vintage smoking accessories and fans of precise horology. There’s the signature twin flame design of Dupont lighters, for instance, along with Franck Muller’s whimsical Color Dream palette as one of four color options available to distinguished collectors. S.T. Dupont notes the elegant piece can serve as both a lighter or a watch in its own right, not to mention a pocket watch or one-of-a-kind desk timepiece.
The achievement speaks to craft and careful design, almost a work of art in motion. S.T. Dupont notes that when “combined for the first time, these two items with different functions create one exceptional and timeless object.” Suffice to say, they appear to be correct in that assessment. Variations of the S.T. Dupont x Franck Muller Master Lighter (for sale online now) range in price from $66,000 to $76,000, with just 88 pieces of each colorway available.
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