Dunhill 1978 Shell Briar ODA 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.

This particular Dunhill belongs to the rare and coveted “OD” series. As historian John Loring recounts, post-war OD designs were distinct in either shape or in size from Dunhill’s standard offerings. Though post-war OD shapes were originally numbered with three digits, such as the 838 squat bulldog, or the 848 Dublin, in the mid- to late 1970s, Dunhill appears to have temporarily abandoned the OD numbering system, possibly due to the concurrent changes in Dunhill’s internal shape code system (Loring notes this being very common among late 1970s “OD” Canadians, for example). This Shell Briar ODA from 1978 would otherwise have been numbered 836, Dunhill’s “semi-giant” panel billiard, or foursquare. As far as post-war OD shapes go, it’s hard to think of one more iconic than this.

The condition is good. Some rim darkening and finish fading.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.70″ / 43.18mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g