Dunhill 1980 Collector 001 Smooth 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.

Dunhills are generally special pipes, but some Dunhills are even more special than others. Like this one – a Dunhill ‘Collector’ grade. Aptly named, the Collector was introduced in 1978 as less of a formal line, and more of a chance for Dunhill’s craftsmen to show off what they could do when using ‘freehand’ carving techniques. Freehand, sometimes called “hand turned,” pipes have the freedom to explore beyond the shapes that factory machinery is otherwise calibrated for, such as in the case of this delightfully bulbous, almost acorn-like, billiard. As the pictures of this pipe show, this allowed its carver to ‘chase the grain’ of the briar used, yielding excellent, tight straight grain patterns on the sides of the bowl, and bird’s-eyes on the rim. This very early Collector, from 1980, has been given a Root finish in order to truly let these grain patterns sing.

The condition is very good. Minor rim darkening and slight residual oxidation on the stem.

 

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 1.00 / 25.40mm

Bowl Depth: 1.71″ / 43.43mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g