Dunhill 1968 Root Briar 263 w/ 9K Gold 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 pipes are special. This is something that the Alfred Dunhill company has tirelessly worked to make known over the last 120 or so years, whether through poaching the greatest talents of the day, aggressively safeguarding its manufacturing techniques and other intellectual property, and, of course, by producing consistently excellent pipes. But, as the idiom goes, some Dunhills are more special than others. Some hold historic significance or especial provenance, some are of unconventional or rare design, and so on, contributing to their greater value in the present. In terms of pipes that are extra special both in the context of when they were first manufactured and in contemporary collectors’ circles, one notable example would be Dunhills that were mounted with precious metals, such as sterling silver or solid gold. Production of such pipes has always been scarce, often being advertised by Dunhill themselves as an excellent gift or award for the lucky pipe smoker in one’s life. If such a pipe was also to be a Root Briar, especially with grain like this one, then the recipient will have been very lucky indeed. On the other hand, if you don’t have someone to bestow a 9 karat gold mounted Root Briar (one from the golden decade of the 1960s, no less), you could always treat yourself.

The condition is very good. Some slight inner rim charring and fading to the finish, slightly faded (though still legible) nomenclature, and a couple of small, superficial scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.44″ / 36.57mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 28g