1968 Dunhill Shell 137 Gold Band Dublin 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.

Dunhill’s mid-century shape “137” is by no means a common one. It was, as one Dunhill catalog put it, a part of the make’s “Collectors’ Range,” as opposed to other, “Classic” shapes, whose pipes were “less readily available” than the latter “due to limits imposed by the natural growth of the briar root.” Uncommonness in quantity was therefore a consequence of uncommonness in the pipe’s qualities: the shape is unconventionally long and tall, with a distinct forward cant that almost approaches that of a Zulu. This particular 137 is even more rare, however, as it also features an engine-turned gold band, the grooves of which perfectly match the briar’s natural ring grain, as brought out during its sandblasting.

The condition is good. Significant rim darkening and minor finish fading.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.63″ / 41.40mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g