A star sign gift: the zodiac Zippo, engraved with a tarot card

Taurus, in our photos, is a horned skeleton sitting under a spreading tree. Scorpio is a hooded skeleton with a scorpion at its side, and Pisces sits between two fish in the clouds, under the moon. Each of the twelve signs is drawn this way, as a tarot card with the sign's name on it, and the card goes across the front of a genuine Zippo.

You pick the sign on the zodiac Zippo page. The finish comes next. It sets the color of the drawing, and we can't change that. Black matte engraves gold, like the Taurus above. On brushed chrome the card comes out silver-white, and on brushed brass it's beige.

The lighter measures 2.25 by 1.50 by 0.50 inches. It comes in Zippo's own box, without fluid. Standard lighter fluid fills it. When the flint or the wick wears down, it can be replaced.

The back of the lighter

The card takes the whole front, so anything you add goes on the back. Choose Front + Back under Engraving and type it in. A birth date pairs well with a sign. We engrave it exactly as typed, so write it the way they would: 05.14 or May 14.

If their birthday falls on the edge of two signs, ask which one they go by before you order. We engrave the sign that's selected.

On a flip-top instead

The zodiac flip-top carries the same kind of card on a matte black stainless steel lighter, 2.24 by 1.46 by 0.47 inches. Its Cancer card shows a skeleton rising from a scallop shell with a pearl, under a sun with rays, over water. All twelve signs are there too, chosen under Design. The engraving reads light on the black coating. Text goes on the back, never on the card, and the lid of the tin takes a name or a year. It costs about half what the zodiac Zippo does.