1925 Cased Dunhill’s Shell Briar Magnum Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

To veteran pipe smokers, Dunhill needs no introduction. Beginning in 1907, Alfred Dunhill began selling Dunhill pipes at the tobacconist shop he owned on London’s Duke Street. Very quickly, these pipes gained the reputation of being the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of pipes due to how expertly crafted they were. Today, Dunhill is likely Britain’s most famous pipe manufacturer, and continues to produce some of the most treasured pipes a smoker can buy.

As far as modern pipes go, Dunhills are usually on the smaller side, but there are exceptions. This is the case even in the early years of English briar pipes, such as seen on this century-old magnum-sized offering. Going by the date code(s) after the two patent numbers, this one appears to have been made in 1925. I say “two” date codes, as there is an underlined 5 and an underlined 7. I will explain this in a moment. The two patent numbers refer respectively to Dunhill’s oil curing and sandblasting process and to the condensing inner tube, as registered in the UK patent office. This means that the date code after the patent numbers would be that number plus 1920, which gets us to 1925. Now, back to the matter of the pipe having two shape codes: while rare, it is not unheard of to find Dunhill pipes with two date codes rather than just the one. It merely means that the pipe was manufactured on the date indicated by the first code, and reached its final distributor on the date indicated by the second. So, this one was made in 1925, but did not reach the vendor who ultimately sold it until 1927 (double patent Dunhills such as this one were not produced after 1926, to my knowledge).

Onto the pipe itself: it is a very large Dunhill, but that’s not all that that’s impressive about it. For one, the sandblasting is absolutely immaculate, to the point where, had i not known it was a Dunhill, I might have mistaken it for a more contemporary artisan pipe-maker such as J.T. Cooke or Max Capps. It is simply a ring grain lover’s dream, and some of the best sandblasting I’ve seen from one of the Great British pipe companies. Second, the pipe was clearly considered such an achievement by Dunhill that it came with its own fitted clam-shell case.

The condition is impressive, too. In fact, it’s one of the best looking pipes condition-wise I’ve seen of any comparable age. Part of this will have been due to the case keeping it safer than most pipes, and part of it was surely due to being treated with the utmost care by its owner. There’s some darkening at the back lip of the rim, and some minor tooth chatter. One hinge on the fitted case is loose.

 

Details:

Length: 8″ / 203.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Height: 2.92 / 74.16mm

Bowl Depth: 2.35″ / 59.69mm

Weight: 3.2oz / 92g