Real Zippo has the year of manufacture on the bottom.

From 1932 to 1956, it was written in block letters; from 1957 to 1976, it was written in italics; from 1977 onwards, the trademark shape with a flame pattern was used. In addition, starting in 1957, the base of all ZIPPO lighters has been engraved with a mark representing the year of manufacture to facilitate collectors' identification. Products before this can only be identified by S number or design type.

There are four symbols representing the year of manufacture, namely [·] (used in 1957), [ | ] (used in 1966-1973), [ / ] (used in 1974- 1981) and [ ] (used from 1982 to 1986). Each mark is used for 8 years. There can be a maximum of 8 of these marks, engraved on the left and right sides of the ZIPPO trademark (ie, a maximum of 4 on each side). And adopt the method of decreasing year by year, at least there is only 1 left.

Starting in 1986, in addition to the year, month symbols were added. The Roman numerals on the right side of the trademark represent the year of manufacture (II stands for 1986, III stands for 1987, and IV stands for 1988); the English letters on the left stand for the month of manufacture (A stands for January, B stands for February, and C stands for March). Among the above characteristics, fake Zippo lighters generally lack or are incomplete, and the printing is also rough. The performance, quality, and appearance are all incomparable to the real Zippo.

In addition, we can also compare the actual use of real and fake Zippo.

First: Weight

Real Zippo lighters are generally lighter than imitations. This is because fake Zippo lighters are made of steel or iron materials, not Zippo-specific materials;

Some unscrupulous manufacturers have increased the thickness in order to pursue a harder shell.

Second: Look at the flame and heat resistance

When Zippo counterfeit products burn, they emit green smoke, the flame flickers on and off, and the entire fuselage is completely burned within 4 minutes of burning. . A real Zippo lighter will burn until the fuel is exhausted without igniting the fuselage. This is because the fake Zippo steel outer cover is too thick and has poor heat dissipation effect; the oil storage cotton core inside the machine is of poor quality and is prone to oil leakage.

Third: Windproof ability

Put the real and fake Zippo 40 cm away from the electric fan and turn the fan to the maximum wind power, but the flame of the real Zippo lighter still cannot be blown out. The fake Zippo lighter was blown out when the electric fan was only turned on at minimum wind power. This is because the windproof wall of real Zippo lighters is high; the design of the vents is scientific and reasonable; and the special fire core absorbs oil well.

To sum up, the differences between imitations and genuine products are as follows:

1. Appearance: There is a circular gravure on the upper and lower hinges of the genuine Zippo lighter. This gravure is on the imitation product. It is difficult to achieve exactly the same result and can be used as a basis for judgment.

2. Quality: Imitation products are generally heavier than genuine Zippo. This is because imitations are made of low-grade steel or iron materials. In order to ensure the hardness, the thickness of the casing has to be increased, so they are heavier than the real thing. Open the upper cover of the lighter and you can easily see that the counterfeit case is much thicker than the genuine one.

3. Windproof cover: Comparing two identical machines, the width of the gaps on both sides of the imitation windproof cover is inconsistent, some are wider and some are narrower, while the genuine ones have the same type of windproof liner. The width of the gaps on both sides of the hood is the same.

4. Sparkling wheel: Zippo's sparking wheel has applied for a patent from design to material. It is made of special materials and has a special pattern, which ensures that it can produce enough sparks at one time and is durable. The texture on the sparkler is that the upper layer is sloping from right to left, and the lower layer is from left to right, and the texture is clear. Imitation generally only has one layer of texture or the texture is reversed and unclear. There are even some imitation sparklers. It uses the horizontal stripes of a disposable lighter.

5. Rivets: The rivets at the sparkler wheel and cam of the genuine product are white, while imitations are generally yellow.

The seat for fixing the flint on the genuine product is made of copper, so it is yellow in color. The seat on the imitation product is usually plated with silver white.