FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $50*

Experience the Magic of Mazzi

Claudio Mazzi, world renown Zippo design and master airbrush artist, is releasing 250 collectible lighters, each hand-painted and numbered. This extremely rare Zippo lighter was created to celebrate Mazzi's 25 years producing unique works of art using Zippo lighters as his canvas.

Meet the Maestro, Claudio Mazzi

 

Mazzi, who lives and works in Modena, Italy, began airbrushing original works of art onto Zippo lighters in 1996, after a chance meeting with the president of Zippo Italia, Zippo’s exclusive distributor in Italy.

 

His designs caused a sensation in the Zippo collector community, winning first place at the 1996 Zippo Swap Meet Design competition and setting record high bids at the swap meet auction.

 

At the swap meet in 2000, Mazzi came to Bradford to give live demonstrations, proving that the meticulous work was indeed created with his nimble hand and airbrush tools alone. Mazzi has returned to Bradford on several occasions, in addition to attending international lighter swap meets, and is an avid Zippo collector.

 

Mazzi is a founding member of Zippo Club Italia, an international group for Zippo lighter enthusiasts.

 

In 2006, Mazzi signed an agreement with Zippo to begin reproducing a few select designs using Zippo’s color printing process. He continues to regularly produce new pieces for the Zippo catalogs, his designs now rendered in Zippo’s modern Color Imaging Process.

 

Mazzi, in addition to his Zippo lighter pieces, has also done works for the brands Ducati, Maserati, and Ferrari, as well as British and Saudi Arabian royalty and other heads of state and motorcycle racing stars.

 

Video: Artist Live Stream

In April, 2021, Mazzi was one of four artists featured in Zippo's Artist Live Stream. Limited to only 250 airbrushed lighters, his design sold out in 4 minutes! Click below to watch a recording of Mazzi's Artist Live Stream video where he shows his airbrush techniques used to create art on Zippo lighters.

See How It's Done

Watch how Mazzi paints and finishes each lighter by hand.

Zippo Club Italia

Celebrating 20 Years of Designs.


Celebrating 25 Years of Zippo x Mazzi

 

In 1995, Italian airbrush maestro Claudio Mazzi was walking the floor at the Bologna Motor Show. Already established as one of the most renowned airbrush artists of the modern era, Mazzi has created posters and calendars for Maserati, custom-painted bicycle frames for Colnago and automobiles for Citroen Italia, and had airbrushed over 5,000 scooters for Malaguti Motorcycles. He also produced hundreds of works of art on motorcycles and other merchandise as the Official Artist for Ducati Motors.

 

By chance, Mazzi discovered the colorful display of Zippo lighters at the booth of Zippo Italia. He was immediately struck by the possibilities of executing finely detailed airbrush paintings on Zippo lighters.

 

In short order, Mazzi and his remarkable artwork were introduced to officials at Zippo headquarters in Bradford, Pennsylvania. To demonstrate the possibilities of using his airbrush to paint the case of a Zippo lighter, Mazzi produced a simple painting of a bluish-white lightning flash on a black background. Zippo quickly approved the inclusion of his work in their product line, so in 1996 Mazzi began work on paintings that would appear on Zippo lighters. These original paintings were sent to Zippo, where they were reproduced for printing on the cases of Zippo lighters.

 

2009

2011

2018

2020

The partnership between Zippo and Mazzi blossomed rapidly. Mazzi has produced new images nearly every year for inclusion in Zippo’s catalogs. In addition, the artist has produced one-of-a-kind hand-painted lighters that have brought record prices at auction.

 

In 2001, Zippo Club Italia was formed to offer collectors who join the club exclusive rights to limited edition “Zippo by Mazzi” lighters. Since 2008, the special collections offered by Zippo Club Italia feature the authenticity stamp: “Zippo Certified Product – Claudio Mazzi Airbrush Design.”

 

Today, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Zippo x Mazzi, his designs continue to be popular with collectors and new Zippo fans alike.  Along with the limited club editions and hand-painted originals, these lighters add to the tremendous body of art produced by the artist in his long and fruitful collaboration with Zippo. 

 


Claudio Mazzi designs and trademarks are used under license from Kreo di Mazzi, & C Snc. To Zippo Manufacturing Company. All Mazzi designs are protected by copyright.

Mazzi - logo signature