Dunhill (2005) The White Spot Collection Shell Briar 196 Sandblasted Billiard with Silver (Estate)

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 “The White Spot Collection” speaks to a desire that many pipe smokers and collectors have in regards to their favorite makes. It is a nostalgic desire: the wish to return to the way things were in the past. The longer a pipe company, workshop, or artisan goes on making pipes, the more these pipes change, especially stylistically. In the case of the great Anglo-French factories, this is often expressed through the introduction of new shapes and the retirement of old ones. Over the course of the 20th century, hundreds of Dunhill shapes came and went and, with the introduction of the make’s standardized shape code system in the 1970s, a significant number were discontinued during that standardization. Of the shapes that were discontinued, many were simply no longer as popular as they had once been. On the other hand, certain shapes were very popular—and, crucially, still are—but they too were discontinued, presumably because they didn’t quite fit in with the way the standardized system operated.

The White Spot Collection was intended as a way for die-hard admirers of older Dunhill pipes to get their hands on shapes that had been out of production for decades. The “196,” for example, was a distinctly long, “Bing” style group 4 billiard rendition that was put into production during the interwar years, and which remained part of the Dunhill catalog right the way through to the 1970s, after which it was discontinued. Since then, it has been absent from Dunhill shape charts and, to the best of my knowledge, it has only been produced as part of The White Spot Collection. The White Spot Collection is a limited series, meaning such shapes are, today, only manufactured occasionally, but it is an appreciated gesture nonetheless. Plus, each pipe in The White Spot Collection is mounted with a thick band of specially engraved sterling silver.

The condition is very good. Minor inner rim charring and slight finish fading.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g