«Lumix» camera lighter · with extending tripod

A lighter shaped like a rangefinder camera, built like a miniature Leica — with lens, viewfinder, wind-on knob and shutter dial. It comes with an extending tripod the camera screws onto. The back is marked «Lumix» in flowing script.

The appeal lies in the detail: the knobs are labelled — one «CASE», one «FLINT» — meaning the gas tank sits behind one and the flint behind the other. The shutter dial carries a scale, the lens a glass insert, the body a grained leatherette. The tripod is a telescoping three-leg, each leg locking in two stages — a flourish rarely found complete on pieces like this.

Camera lighters of this kind were made in Japan from the fifties on, as souvenirs and display pieces. Beyond the name «Lumix» on the back, nothing is documented for this example — no year, no company history. What counts is the condition and that the tripod is still with it; these are usually sold apart, because the tripod goes missing.

• Lighter as a rangefinder camera
• «Lumix» on the back, «CASE» and «FLINT» on the knobs
• Extending three-leg tripod, screws on
• Lens with glass insert, grained leatherette
• Function untested, no gas
• Japanese make, year not documented

Used, complete. The body has fine scratches and light rubbing at the edges; the leatherette is whole with no lifting. All knobs turn. The tripod extends and holds. Whether the lighter fires has not been tested — there is no gas in it, and seals of this age are usually hard.