Top 5 special lighters

With a special lighter it's not about the flame but about everything around it: the material, the shape of the flame, the weight in your hand and the box it comes in. Technically they all do the same thing. What you're buying is the face. Our collection of those is under luxury lighters.

The best-looking of the bunch, as far as we're concerned, is the MYON Coletta at 24.95 euros: three flames, a gift box and a cigar punch and V-cutter built into the base. If you mainly want something with power, the Eurojet Inferno is the heaviest in the line-up: you grip it with your whole hand and it has a slider for the air supply.

All five run on butane gas with a jet flame. That flame is equally usable on every model: short, blue and unaffected by wind. The difference is in how that flame comes out and what you hold it in.

The MYON Zacharie has a carbon-look housing and two flames side by side. The MYON Cross Jet sets those two crossed instead, so the flames meet above the opening. That looks different from anything you normally see in a shop, and it burns every bit as well.

Every one of them is refillable, so you get years of use out of them instead of weeks. The rest of that range is under refillable lighters.

Where it lives

First think about where it lives. A lighter you take with you has to fit in a pocket and close; one that stays on the table can be bigger and heavier.

The Atomic Pen Torch is, at 18.7 centimetres, the longest in this line-up and meant for reaching somewhere: the back of a stove, the bottom of a candle holder.

The hand torch apart

The Eurojet Inferno is another story. That's a hand torch, not a pocket lighter: you grip it with your whole hand and it has a slider to control the air supply.

That makes it suitable for jobs where an ordinary lighter falls short, such as firing up a charcoal starter or burning weeds from between paving. For just lighting a candle it's over the top, and that's exactly what makes it special.

Gift or for yourself

Then consider whether it needs to be a gift. Three of the five come in a gift box, and that saves wrapping. If it's for yourself, I'd actually weigh that into the price: part of what you pay goes on that box.

Number of flames

And mind the number of flames. More flames make the flame wider, not hotter. For a candle one is enough; for a cigar or a piece of charcoal you'd rather have three or four.

Taking a wide surface in one movement saves turning, and you only notice that once you've tried it with a single flame.

Which gas to use

Refill with high-pressure butane gas, usually 45 PSI. Universal lighter gas doesn't have enough pressure for a jet flame and gives a flame that keeps cutting out. See which canisters fit under lighter gas.

After refilling

After refilling, let it sit for half a minute before lighting it. Fresh gas is still cold and expands; light it straight away and you'll get a high, uneven flame.

Blow out the valve now and then with compressed air, since dust in the opening is almost always the reason a lighter stops working.

Taking it travelling

If you're taking it travelling, first read can you take a lighter on a plane. Stricter rules apply to a jet flame than to a regular gas lighter.

If you're after one lighter that looks good and is genuinely good at something, the MYON Coletta is the complete choice. If it's purely about looks, the MYON Zacharie at 19.95 euros is the best-looking for the money.

The other three you choose by use: power, length or a flame you won't see anywhere else. All five do their job, they just don't do it the same way.