German SS Lighter. Any thoughts?

[ArchStenton]

It appears that someone has cut the ends of the wings off the eagle to make it fit the size of the lighter.

Good point, never noticed it.

So basically is a nice piece of vintage lighter with repro addons.

I have one more question, maybe someone who has any insight of how repros are made... the eagle and "SS" signs do not look applied but rather molded out with the original piece. I mean, like if it was originally mad that way. Is it possible to fake/add repro signs on original mold (copper) making it look legit?

[ArchStenton]

In the last 10 years or so, there had been a lot of this sort of thing appearing.
Lighters, pocketwatch cases, cigarette cases, clocks, ashtrays, etc. All rather
common 'everyday use' non-military items made of brass which have had
poorly cast or stamped Third Reich emblems attached/soldered
onto them.

seen a lot of ashtrays indeed so many times and kept well away from buying one! got fooled by the lighter apparently

[Adrian Stevenson]

It may well have the insignias added, then plated?

Cheers, Ade.

[big ned]

Good point, never noticed it.

So basically is a nice piece of vintage lighter with repro addons.

I have one more question, maybe someone who has any insight of how repros are made... the eagle and "SS" signs do not look applied but rather molded out with the original piece. I mean, like if it was originally mad that way. Is it possible to fake/add repro signs on original mold (copper) making it look legit?

It could actually be a fake of a fake! IMCO lighters are heavily copied and outright faked, this has gone on for years, and will probably increase in the future as the IMCO company folded not long ago, this year in fact.

[kylesbullets]

The ss shape is off from what i see, both points are connected

[maximus71]

Good news, the bic is definatly real, but that decal may be a repro lol sorry just being silly.

[ArchStenton]

Good news, the bic is definatly real, but that decal may be a repro lol sorry just being silly.

I'm willing to sell the Bic if you're interested

[Wagriff]

Unfortunately, I'm of the opinion that the whole set is a modern fake..As Ned said, vintage IMCO lighters are quite collectable in their own right and have been blatantly copied all over now for quite awhile. IMCO made some very high quality lighters-easily the equal of Ronson and such- and the workmanship on this piece looks quite soft and poor. As for the insignia...well....sorry again to be the bearer of bad news, but even as a fake, the detailing and designs are, quite frankly, terrible and not remotely possible to be period and genuine. Are the seals in it at least good-can it be used for a lighter without having to refill it every day or every other day? This is one point the fake makers usually ignore-a genuine IMCO could go for quite a long while before needing to be refilled, but without good seals, the fuel evaporates quicker. But then again, I don't imagine they think people will be walking about with one in the pocket actually Using it, so why would they care, hey? Hope you didn't pay a ton, but at least you know a few things to look for in the future! Good luck collecting! (And welcome to the Forum, by the way....a shame it had to be for bad news!)

[ArchStenton]

Hope you didn't pay a ton, but at least you know a few things to look for in the future! Good luck collecting! (And welcome to the Forum, by the way....a shame it had to be for bad news!)

Didn't paid a lot actually, was a few years ago, i think it went for about 20 euros.
Bad news come to teach me to be more careful in the future!

As for the seals, i haven't really tried it. As you mentioned I don't really want to light my cigarettes with that and even if it was original and not fake would i really want to use it and spoil it? Spark works fine but really didn't try to fill it and use it.