Dunhill 1976 Shell Briar 41 EK Sandblasted Panel 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.

The “EK” was originally what Dunhill calls a “Quaint” shape, meaning a non-standard shape only manufactured when a given block of briar suited it more than anything else. Originating in 1928, it was what would commonly be called a “panel” or a “foursquare,” i.e., a pipe whose shank and stem are cut into a flattened four-sided form, and whose bowl is cut into four more main panels, with smaller, slightly more rounded, panels joining them at each corner.

However, it appears that, for a brief period in the 1970s, the “EK” was expanded into several shapes, such as the “41 EK” and the “61 EK.” What was the difference between these shapes? If you guessed “size,” congratulations, you are correct. Up until that point, the “EK” had always been a group 4 size, but now there were other options and, curiously enough, this new prefix to distinguish such appears to have prefigured the sweeping changes to Dunhill’s shape code system that were, at that point, near on the horizon. This particular example is the “41 EK,” aka the “EK” proper, a classic shape in Dunhill’s house style, dressed in the similarly classic Shell Briar sandblast finish.

The condition is fair. Chamber slightly over-reamed, some general finish fading and slight blemishing, and some small scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.43″ / 36.32mm

Weight: 1.0oz / 30g