Karl Wieden Line 2 Cling Sounds Meteor Crater Black Lighter

• Name: Meteor Crater
• Material: Solid brass/ Plating / Engraved
• Dimensions: Dimensions are approximate 2 1/2 inches tall, 1 3/8 inches wide and 7/16 inch thick.
• Condition: New in original luxury gift box with international 2 year warranty card and instruction booklet
• We are selling this item as an authorized Karl Wieden Dealer
• You receive exactly as shown in the picture
• This Lighter is part of the Ping Sounds Collection. It is guaranteed to have a Perfect Ping each time it is opened

Karl Wieden GmbH was a prominent German lighter manufacturer based in Solingen, founded in 1905 by Karl Wieden himself. The company specialized in innovative petrol (gasoline) wick lighters and operated for nearly 70 years, closing in the early 1970s. Now it has been acquired by a Chinese company, Wieden’s designs were highly influential, with several patented mechanisms licensed or copied by European and Asian makers, including semi-automatic and full-automatic models that became staples in the vintage lighter market.

Core Innovations (Patented & Unique to Karl Wiedel)

1. 1908 Double-Wheel Striker (Austrian Patent AT 35 842)
   • Two counter-rotating serrated wheels create double the friction surface
   • Produces a 40 % hotter, wider shower of sparks than any single-wheel system
   • Virtually eliminates mis-strikes even with worn flints
   • Still manufactured exactly to the 1908 drawings – no modern substitutes
2. Self-Centering Lift-Arm Mechanism
   • Precision-machined conical pivot and spring-loaded arm automatically align the snuffing cap
   • Creates an airtight seal every single time → prevents fuel evaporation
   • Competitors need 3–5 closures to achieve the same seal
3. Hand-Riveted Hinge with Zero Backlash
   • Five-part hinge assembled with silver rivets (no screws, no play)
   • After 100+ years, original 1920s Wiedels still close with a satisfying “click” and no wobble
4. Rose-Engine Guilloché (1920s Strauss straight-line engine)
   • One of the last three functioning antique rose engines in private hands
   • Every pattern is cut in a single continuous 4–6 hour pass – impossible to replicate with CNC
   • Depth and sharpness of engraving unmatched by modern methods
5. “Vienna Vault” Insert System
   • The entire fuel chamber is a replaceable sterling silver capsule
   • Introduced in 1931 so the outer case can be re-polished or re-plated indefinitely without ever exposing the insert to heat or acid
   • Only Karl Wiedel and Dunhill (pre-1970) ever used this system

Conclusion – Why a Karl WiedeN Is Different

In a world of disposable butane lighters and mass-produced “luxury” brands that quietly moved production to Asia decades ago, the Karl Wieden remains the last authentic European petrol lighter still built exactly as it was in the Belle Époque – one craftsman, one bench, one lifetime guarantee.

It is heavier than it needs to be.
It takes ten weeks longer to make than any competitor.
It costs more than most people would ever spend on something that simply makes fire.

And yet, when you finally hold it – feel the cold weight of hand-polished silver, hear the precise click of a 117-year-old hinge design, watch the double wheels throw a storm of sparks on the very first strike – you understand:

This is not a lighter.
This is the final custodian of an entire craft tradition that refused to die.

Whether in classic sterling silver, heavy gold, or the new 2025 titanium series, every Karl Wieden leaves the Vienna atelier carrying the same promise it has kept since 1892:

It will outlast you.
It will never be made faster, cheaper, or anywhere else.

Light it once, and you join a quiet lineage that stretches from the officers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the collectors of tomorrow.

Some things are worth waiting for.
Some flames are worth preserving.

Karl Wieden – Since 1892. Still hand-made this morning.
Still yours for the next hundred years.