In 1929 Lucien Tissot Dupont was invited to New York by Louis Cartier to present his travel cases in their 5th Avenue shop. On the ship going to New York he learned about the Crash and the ensuing panic on Wall Street. Upon his return to Paris, in response to the crisis, he decided to move even further upmarket and cater to clients unaffected by the Crash.
Dupont became supplier to kings, emperors, maharajahs, ambassadors, and bankers. Up to 10 exceptional travel cases are turned out of the workshops every month. The master craftsmen work with extravagant materials: crocodile skin, gold and silver, ivory, and tortoiseshell.
Since then, Dupont has gone on to produce lighters, pens, wallets, watches, and fragrances. It currently controls 70% of the luxury lighters market. The first S.T. Dupont serially produced lighter was created in 1941, during World War II. It was made of Aluminum, as brass was used as a strategic metal restricted for war purposes only. From 1958-1963 all lighters were constructed of 18k solid gold with 3% brass. The 50-60's LIGNE 1 series was most popular and very pricey. S.T. Dupont is better known as a masculine luxury brand but it creates accessories and products also appealing to women.
Today S.T. Dupont is active in high quality luxury and jeweled lighters, writing instruments, leather goods and accessories
As of May 25, the most expensive lighter on Ebay.com, at $85,000, is the ST Dupont Prestige lighter.