S.T. Dupont, 24 Hours of Le Mans Collaborate

On Saturday, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will kick off in northern France. This year's race is a special one for the world's most famous endurance race, as it marks the 100th anniversary of the first running of Le Mans.

S.T. Dupont has announced that it has partnered with the event's organizers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), for a new collection of accessories.

There are pens, leather goods and, of course, smoking accessories including three standalone lighters, a cutter and ashtray. None of the models are new, but the colors are new.

Each item is offered in three different color schemes that feature the 24 Hour of Le Mans logo. The colors are references to iconic racing cars: red with white, green and gold is a classic Ferrari livery; the orange-on-teal scheme was made popular by the Gulf Racing Ford GT40; and Martini Racing donned the white with red and various blue colors at Le Mans using Porsches. There is no licensing agreement with any car companies or race teams.

Regardless of color, the standalone items have the following prices in the U.S.:

The Ligne 2 lighters come up with a branded leather sheath.

There are also three higher-end Prestige sets that use a turquoise color. The Prestige Smoking Kit comes with a customized S.t. Dupont Le Grand lighter, which features both soft and torch flames. There's also a Prestige Writing Kit that comes with a pen, an additional pen nib and a pen stand, the latter of which is designed to look like the trophy given to winners at Le Mans.

Both of those kits also come with a model car that looks like an LMP2 car, one of the three competitive classes that will race at this year's Le Mans. Those kits are priced at $5,750 each.

S.T. Dupont is also offering the Prestige Collectors Set, which includes both the Smoking and Writing Kit as well as cufflinks and a keychain that has a racing helmet. That is priced at $10,950.

The Prestige Kits are limited to 188 numbered pieces. The items all use the number eight, which is lucky in various Asian cultures.

There is also an even higher-end Le Mans Haute Creation collection. Details about that kit have not been confirmed.

Coles of London, S.T. Dupont's U.S. distributor, hopes to ship the standard items between now and July, while the Prestige Kits should follow about a month later.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place this weekend at the Circuit de la Sarthe, a mixture of racetrack and public roads in Le Mans, France.

Beyond the 100th anniversary, this year's race is notable as a new rules package is being used for the first time, bringing companies like Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot and Cadillac back to the race's fastest class of cars. In addition, Chevrolet and NASCAR are running a modified version of the current NASCAR car as part of Garge 56, Le Mans’ one-off and experimental class.

The race begins at 4 p.m. local time and concludes shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday. As is tradition, the race runs for 24 hours plus one lap.

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I handle the editing of our written content, the majority of the technical aspects of the site and work with the rest of our staff on content management, business development and more. I’ve lived in most corners of the country and now entering my second stint in Dallas, Texas. I enjoy boxing, headphones, the Le Mans 24-hour, wearing sweatshirts year-round and gyros. echte liebe.