Dunhill 1964 Shell Briar LB 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.

Dunhill’s “LB,” or “Large Billiard” variations may well be the most famous billiard shapes in the history of Anglo-French pipe design. Shapes like the LB, the LBS, and the 6LB have been written about extensively, with their subtle transformations over the decades meticulously documented. They have also been the subject of countless studies, homages, and re-interpretations by artisans all over the world. While by no means alien within the context of its production (see the French Maigret variations, for example), something about these shapes have stuck in the minds of pipe collectors and pipe makers for close to a century. By the 1960s, when this one was made, such shapes had been moved to the “Collectors’ Range” within Dunhill’s catalogs produced in far more limited quantities than the company’s other shapes, and, of course, sold at a premium.

The condition is fair. I think the stem on this one is a replacement, as it is an LB, which is usually tapered. The alternative would be it being a 6LB with faded nomenclature, as the 6LB is the LB with a saddle. I’m going to err on the side of a replacement stem. Some rim darkening and slight rim charring.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g