Dunhill 1994 Amber Root Quaint Smooth Author w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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 “Quaint Shapes” are a little different to the make’s standard output. The nature of these Quaints has, however, changed a couple of times over the last 100 years. For one, they are much rarer than Dunhill’s usual shapes, because Quaints are only made when one of the many briar blocks passing through Dunhill’s factory shows itself to be especially well suited to such a shape. This is as true now as it was in the first half of the 20th century. In the past, however, there was a large roster of Quaint Shapes that could be easily recognized not only because of their design, but because they were designated by letters, rather than numbers. For example, the “EK” panel billiard, or foursquare, was originally a Quaint Shape, whereas a “130” Dublin was not. Today, things are a little different. While there are established Quaint designs, just as there were in times gone by, the approach to making them appears to be a little more free, with many shapes seeming to be a kind of halfway between Dunhill’s standard shapes and its hand-turned Collector series. This may be why Dunhill Quaints today are relatively sparse in nomenclature, bearing no special shape codes or any explicit indication that they are Quaints. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; Quaints are identifiable by the absence of any specific designation as to the nature of their design, save for a group size and the name of the finish they wear.

This one, for example, is something of an author rendition, with a slightly squat, plump bowl and a nice, flowing figure. As for the rest of the design, the pipe belongs to Dunhill’s Amber Root, a relatively recent and rather interesting addition to the make’s lineup. Debuting in 1995, the finish of the Amber Root was designed to emulate that of the original Dunhill Root Briar. While Root Briars today are known for their light, blonde, natural stain, these pipes were originally more of a reddish-orange hue, as seen on examples from the 1930s. Despite that revival, Amber Roots remain somewhat uncommon in Dunhill’s annual production, and that scarcity is only compounded for pipes that also wear engine-turned, sterling silver collars, as this one does. On a last note, another rarer aspect of this particular Amber Root is its mouthpiece, which is made from cumberland. The first years of the Amber Root typically such, as a nod to the brindled precursor to cumberland often used on very early Root Briars. Today, however, vulcanite is the standard for Amber Root pipes, though I’m not sure why, as the original pairing (seen here) looked great to me.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original box.

Details: 

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.40″ / 35.56mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 53g