Why British designer Timothy Oulton has hundreds of Dunhill lighters
Oulton has spent years buying Dunhill Aquarium lighters in a bid to find out more about creator Ben Shillingford
“I’ve just bought every [Dunhill lighter] that I can,” says Timothy Oulton. “Like doubling down on roulette, it’s not easy.”
The creative director of his eponymous brand is a collector by heart and a designer by trade. Oulton’s furniture, lighting and interior accessories combine traditional British aesthetics with contemporary global design.
STYLE sat down with the professional magpie at Rare by Oulton, his luxury antiques store, to find out more about his most beloved collection.
Your favourite antiques collection is a selection of Dunhill lighters. How many do you have?
We have around 200. There’s one guy called Ben Shillingford [who made all the Dunhill Aquarium lighters]; he started with Dunhill in the 50s and he died in 2000; and he only supplied Dunhill. No one really knows how many he made.
Dunhill and Namiki were always looking for something that was exclusive to them, like all good retailers are, and they jumped on him and that was the deal with [Shillingford].
There’s not a lot known about his work, and so over the last seven to eight years, I’ve bought every [lighter] that I can. I love them; I was spellbound the first time I saw one, and I’m still spellbound when I look at one of them. When I look at them together, it’s even more interesting.
Are they all here in Hong Kong?