Zippo Manufacturing Company currently owns the related brands in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and continues to produce Ronson lighters and Ronsonol fuel.

The Ronson lighter company started as The Art Metal Works in 1897 and was incorporated on July 20, 1898, by Max Hecht, Louis Vincent Aronson and Leopold Herzig, in Newark, New Jersey.

Continuing losses led to the sale of the UK division in September 1981 to Jeffrey Port, who quickly reorganized it as Ronson International.

Geoffrey Lord bought it in 1983, renamed it Ronson Exports Limited, and attempted to return to profitability by adopting the competition's approach of importing lighters produced cheaply in Asia.

In the late 90s, there was an unsuccessful effort to expand into various "lifestyle products" such as watches and sunglasses, leading to heavy losses and the ousting of Hodgson as CEO.

By 2001, expansion into disposable lighters allowed Ronson Intl to post a marginal profit for the first time in years, but more heavy losses led to major downsizing from 2003-2004 and an abortive effort to rebrand as Powerdraught Limited.

[20][21][22][23] In 2010, the remaining intellectual property assets (i.e. trademarks) of the core North American companies were sold to longtime competitor Zippo.

[31][32][23] When, in time, technological advances were developed to allow for the manufacture of a safe flint material in 1906, Louis Aronson's ambition for an automatic pocket lighter soon became a reality.

[33] It was a great success, demand shortly exceeding supply, spurring Aronson to patent it and design other products around the invention, which were marketed under the Ronson brand name.

[34] Under his leadership, the Art Metal Works began designing prototypes, and patented several generations of Igniting-Apparatus until finally arriving at the Banjo Lighter.

[35][36][37][38][39] As with the Art Metal Works output, many well-built and stylish early Ronson lighters demand high prices in the collectibles marketplace.

In the early 1980s, high costs and the advent of cheap disposable lighters forced closure of its production facility at Leatherhead in England.

Ronson appliances in Australia, after being sold by the parent company, are now owned by Breville Group and the brand is a mid priced value brand with wide distribution in the Australian market[46] First appearing in 1941, this variant was slightly larger than the "Standard" variant at the time, and featured a windproof shield that could be slid up around the lighter's wick to offer extra protection in windy environments.