An unused S.T. Dupont Ligne 2 in the smaller Petit Modèle size, finished in brushed palladium with gold-plated trim, carrying reference 15401 and offered complete with its box, outer sleeve, guarantee card, booklet and the original shop price tag.
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: the case brushed to a soft, directional satin in palladium, with the cap rim, base plate, roller and hinge picked out in gold plate. Palladium does not yellow or tarnish the way silver plate does, so the contrast between the cool body and the warm trim looks today much as it did when it left Paris.
The paperwork is what makes this one worth attention. The original box label is typed 15401 — briquet l2 sport pm — or palladium — 84 K JC 01. The base of the lighter is struck 84 K JC 01. The box and the lighter therefore match, which is rare: boxes and lighters are separated and recombined constantly on the second-hand market, and a matching pair is the closest thing to documentation a vintage Dupont can carry.
It came from a tobacconist in Milan, Italy, that closed down with stock still on the shelf, and it still wears that shop's handwritten price tag. The shopped had closed down a couple decades ago an i had the opportunity to purchase the remaining stock. The lighter is unused — new old stock — with the brushed grain unmarked and the gold trim free of wear.
The set comprises the black S.T. Dupont box, the outer card sleeve, the Carte de Garantie Internationale, the instruction booklet and the shop tag. The outer packaging shows the shelf wear of forty years in a shop; the lighter inside does not.
More in our New Old Stock S.T. Dupont Lighters. For the background, see our A Collector's Guide to S.T. Dupont Finishes and Patterns.