Dunhill 1974 Root Briar 921 Smooth Bent 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.

In the beginning, there was the Dunhill Bruyere. Until 1917, it was the only type of Dunhill pipe one could buy (albeit with a handful of price variations dependent on grain quality). Then came the Shell Briar, meaning one could choose between a wine-red smooth Dunhill or a burgundy sandblasted one. It was not until 1931 that Dunhill gave its customers a third option as regarded finishing. That option was, of course, the Root Briar, whose grain patterns were simply too nice to obscure with a relatively dark stain. The rest, as they say, is history. This Root Briar, for example, comes from 1974, and features exactly the kind of lovely, bird’s-eye graining that deserves only a light, natural top coat. It is also a quite uncommon shape 921 apple, made very shortly before Dunhill’s catalog of countless designs were done away with and its modern standardized shape system was first introduced. The early 1970s saw a lot of these more obscure designs debuted and then quickly disappear, so it’s always nice to come across one still “in the wild,” as it were.

The condition is good. Some darkening and minor charring on the rim, and slight handling marks. The pipe is chambered for 6mm filters, such as the Savinelli balsa filter pictured. I’m not entirely sure when the first Dunhill 6mm filter pipes were introduced, nor if they were always marked with an “F” as in the case of 1980s makes, so I’m going to assume this one was modified by a previous owner. It shouldn’t affect how the pipe performs but the price will be adjusted nonetheless.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.49″ / 37.84mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g