Dunhill 1924 Shell Sandblasted 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.

While the question of “who did it first?” remains contentious, Dunhill was undoubtedly one of the pioneers of sandblasting, securing the first patent for such finishes in 1918. And while many pipe smokers extol the virtues of perfect straight grain, there are just as many who adore the crisp and rich textures of a sandblasted bowl, instead expressing in relief the briar’s natural grain patterns. And if there is one make in particular that exemplifies this kind of texturing, it is Dunhill—more specifically, those Dunhills made between the birth of the Shell finish and the mid-century. This Dunhill, produced only six years after the patenting of the Shell Briar finish (which was originally a patent for a combination process of oil curing and sandblasting pipe bowls, as this one will have been), is  exactly the kind of pipe collectors and other pipe makers have been enamored with since its production. To call this a “craggy blast” would be a grand understatement, and the pipe has undergone such a thorough treatment that even its rim bears similar peaks and valleys.

The condition is good for a century-old pipe. There’s some rim darkening, handling marks, and finish fading, but it is a remarkable find nonetheless.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g