Dunhill 2020 Shell Briar 3421 Sandblasted Zulu 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.

Since its inception in 1917, Dunhill’s Shell Briar has been defined by its dark burgundy sandblast finish and jet-black vulcanite stem. In more recent decades, however, there have been a very small number of exceptions to this most iconic pairing. In the early 2000s, for example, a few Dunhill Shell Briars were fitted with stems cut from Galalith, a material that had once been used as imitation-ivory and which had been unearthed in one of Dunhill’s warehouses. Since around 2020, Dunhill has produced a handful of Shell Briars with brindled ebonite stems each year, including some with the company’s signature Cumberland ebonite. Ordinarily, Cumberland is only found on Cumberland, County, Chestnut, and Amber Root Dunhills, making the Shell Briars in question a collector’s dream. Here we find one such pipe—a Zulu rendition—from 2020, bringing together the crisp relief and deep tones of the Shell Briar finish, the marbled, red and black of the Cumberland, and a collar of sterling silver. It is a truly winning combination (though fans of Ashton pipes will have known that already), and indeed a shame that it is such a rare sight.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.73 / 18.54mm

Bowl Depth: 1.27″ / 32.25mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g