An unused S.T. Dupont Ligne 2 in the full-size Grand Modèle, finished in brushed palladium with gold-plated trim, carrying reference 16401 and offered complete with its box, outer sleeve, guarantee card and booklet.
S.T. Dupont produced its first luxury lighter in 1941, and the Ligne 2 introduced in 1977 became the model the maison is known for. This is the two-tone configuration Dupont catalogued as or palladium: a case brushed to a soft satin in palladium, with the cap rim, base plate, roller and hinge in gold plate. On the Grand Modèle the broad flat faces give the brushed grain room to run, and the finish shifts from near-white to pewter as the lighter turns in the light.
The reference decodes against its smaller sibling. This lighter is 16401; the same finish in the Petit Modèle is 15401. The original box label is typed 16401 — briquet l2 sport gm — or palladium — 85 B BZ 28, and the base of the lighter is struck 85 B BZ 28. Box and lighter match, which on the second-hand market is uncommon enough to be worth paying attention to.
It came from a tobacconist in Milan that closed with stock still on the shelf. The guarantee card is present and blank — never filled in by a retailer, because the lighter was never sold. The lighter is unused, with the brushed grain unmarked and no wear to the gold trim.
The set comprises the black S.T. Dupont box, the outer card sleeve, the unused Carte de Garantie Internationale and the instruction booklet. The outer packaging carries the shelf wear of four decades; the lighter inside is as it was made.
More in our New Old Stock S.T. Dupont Lighters. For the background, see our S.T. Dupont Reference Numbers: Decoder and Index.