Dunhill 1961 ODA Root Briar 806 Smooth Apple 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.

This particular Dunhill belongs to the rare, “OD” series. As historian John Loring recounts, post-war OD designs were either distinct in shape or in size from Dunhill’s standard offerings. The 806 was a little of both, being far larger than any of Dunhill’s regular apple shapes, while also having a distinctive shaping relative to said apples. While Dunhill did not include the 806 among its self-described “semi-giants,” Loring’s categorization positions it as an equivalent as far as proportions go. This one is a very lovely, broad and bulbous apple as mentioned, made during a collectors’ favorite decade, the 1960s. The bird’s-eye grain is exquisite and, as with an ODA 835 listed recently, I would wonder why it didn’t qualify as an ODB grade. But, as also noted in that listing, Loring’s research suggests that “semi-giant” shapes were simply not given that accolade from the mid-1950s to the last decades of the 20th century. Perhaps this policy extended to the 806?

The condition is great. Some very slight inner rim charring and minor handling marks.

 

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g