Colibri Celebrates 90th Anniversary with New Lighter & Cutter Set

The Colibri Group is celebrating its 90th year in business this year, and as might be expected, producing a limited edition release as part of the festivities.

The Colibri 90th anniversary set features the company’s signature V-Cut cutter and Rally lighter, each with designs celebrating the company’s founding and recognizing its present, with London 1928 and New York 2018 engraved on both sides of both accessories. The company was founded in 1928 in London by Julius Lowenthal, an inventor who created the Colibri “Original,” a lighter with a spring-loaded ignition arm that when pulled and released, easily sparked the lighter’s flame.

In an announcement about the new set, the company cites several milestones in its history, including the development and patenting of the electronic piezo ignition system in the 1950s, the pioneering of a windproof torch lighter in the 1980s, and the development of cigar lighters with built-in cutters in the 1990s. The company also introduced the first triple-jet torch lighter in 2000, and in 2013, with the company now headquartered in New York, launched the Colibri V-Cut, one its most popular cutters.

The Colibri 90th anniversary set will debut at the upcoming IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, which runs from July 13 – 17 in Las Vegas, Nev. It is being offered in four finishes: all gunmetal, gunmetal and red, gunmetal and blue, and gold and black. The set sells for $128, or the pieces can be purchased individually, with the V-Cut priced at $59 and the Rally at $69. It is scheduled to begin shipping in October, and while limited in production, final numbers have not yet been confirmed.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.