I would think it would add more value. Also agree that it wouldn't be as much as original, yet should come close. Your friend does amazing work. The Zippos you've had done look awesome.
Great video JRO. I think for your own collection restorations are great! For resale, restoring a VERY good condition used lighter will certainly add value for collectors. Restoring a well used lighter that’s missing paint can be hit or miss in terms of boosting value beyond the cost of a resto.
A well done paint job shouldn't detract from a lighter's value. The lighter's value is represented by the overall condition of the case, so having a highly worn out lighter will not suddenly be even cheaper just because someone did a great paint restore on it. On the contrary, as you already noted, a high quality paint can easily add value if the only thing the lighter lacks is paint. It will probably never get as much as an equivalent new lighter, but the cost of getting it repainted may be worth it. Anyway I don't think it's a minus. If someone really was insulted by it, they could always spray it down with brake cleaner and strip the paint right off with no damage to the lighter. I've done that to a couple of lighters that had almost no original paint left but I wanted a clean canvas with which to do a repaint. I'm by no means as skilled as those who make it a serious pursuit but I'm selective about the ones I've repainted and the results have been very positive. Revealing the lighter as a repaint is of course the ethical thing to do. Hopefully the lighter will get resold that way as well, but you never know what may happen a few hands down the line. Eventually that detail will get forgotten. And as long as it's clean enough to match the factory original, does it really matter? I personally don't think it's a big factor.
Nice to see a video on this do you know where in europe the other restorer is located? I usually dont buy used Zippo's but i can see why you would want this to be done on some that lost their paintjob. Looking sharp for sure.
Yeah, I personally haven’t seen a difference. I do know during COVId, Zippo did have to alter some parts or find temporary alternatives due to lack of supply. There was word of a lot of lack of quality complaints in the Zippo community, I have not seen a lot of those complaints as of late.
