1. Appearance: There is a circular gravure print on the hinge of the genuine Zippo lighter, which is difficult to be exactly the same on the imitation, and can be used as a basis for judgment.
2. Quality: imitations are generally heavier than genuine Zippo. This is because the imitation is made of low-grade steel or iron, and the shell thickness needs to be increased to ensure the hardness, so it is heavier than the real one. Open the top cover of the lighter, and you can easily see that the shell of the imitation is much thicker than the real one.
3. Windshield: Compared with two identical machines, the gaps on both sides of the imitation windshield are different, some are wider and some are narrower, while the gaps on both sides of the windshield of the same type of liner are the same.
4. Spark wheel: Zippo's spark wheel has been patented from design to material, and made of special materials with special patterns, which ensures that enough sparks can be emitted at one time and is durable. The texture on the lighter is that the upper layer inclines from right to left and the lower layer inclines from left to right, so the texture is clear. General imitations have only one layer of texture or the texture is unclear, and even some imitations use the horizontal bar of disposable lighters.
5. Rivets: the rivets at the ignition wheel and cam of genuine liner are white, and the imitations are generally yellow. The seats for fixing real flint are made of copper, so they are all yellow, and the imitation seats are generally plated with silver together.
6. Cotton pad: Genuine Zippo cotton pad is very thick, which can be as thick as 0.7cm in general. General imitations can't do it. There is a small hole of 1mm on the cotton pad to put the spare flint.
7. Flint: Generally, screws for loading and unloading real flint can be easily unscrewed by hand or coins, but imitation screws often need a screwdriver to tighten them. The real flint and the handle under the flint are all gold, the surface of the joint is very flat, and the imitation is generally gray.
8. Cotton ball: The cotton ball of genuine Zippo is five small pieces, and the imitation is generally a whole piece.
9. Flame: Blue smoke comes out when the imitation burns, and the flame flickers, and the whole fuselage burns in less than 4 minutes. The real thing won't ignite the fuselage until the fuel runs out. This is because the general imitation steel cover is too thick and the heat dissipation effect is poor; The oil-storage cotton core in the machine is of poor quality and easy to leak oil.
In fact, in terms of workmanship, the difference between genuine products and imitations is too great. After playing with several genuine friends, it is easy to tell the genuine from the fake. The above mentioned is only the most obvious quality difference, for the reference of friends who have never used Zippo.
In addition to the differences in quality, there are also great differences in details. For example, there is no lettering on the liner of most imitations, while the liner of Zippo is engraved with product information and warnings. Or the lettering on the bottom of the imitation case does not conform to the current rules of Zippo, and the lettering is unclear.