Dunhill 1978 Shell Briar 61091 Sandblasted Canadian 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 group six pipes, identified by the first digit of their shape code, are the largest pipes in Dunhill’s standard production (i.e., non-OD series, certain Quaint shapes, or special edition pieces). That said, they are much rarer than any other size group as far as production goes. Dunhill is, after all, a very traditional make, whose pipes are made in much the same traditional proportions as was the style a century ago, when the first Dunhill pipes were being manufactured. That this is a group 6 Dunhill is already a rare sight, though even rarer is its shape. Having been made in 1978, this Dunhill comes from a time when the company was beginning to standardize its designs using a simplified shape code system. Instead of having dozens of individual shapes with separate numbers, Dunhill began using a system where each design element in a shape would be tied to a single digit in a string of numbers, and where every standard-production pipe (hand-turned and OD shapes being some of the few exceptions) would have a 5-digit code. The 5-digit system only survived for a few years between the late 1970s and 1980s, before being simplified again into the 4-digit system we know today. What’s the difference between a 5-digit system and a 4-digit one? Variations. The first 4 digits of the former specified a group size, bowl style, and stem type, which remains the case today in the latter. But the 5th digit denoted variations in the foundational shape denoted by the first four. It has become difficult to know exactly what each variation was, though this 61091 certainly has a distinctly long mouthpiece, as well as a distinctly flat shank. Perhaps that’s it. In any case, it’s a rarity.

The condition is fair. Rim darkening, finish fading, and chamber slightly over-reamed.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.78″ / 45.21mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g