Dunhill (c.1970s) Shell Briar 051VM “Salesman Sample” Sandblasted Billiard with Vulcanite Mount (Unsmoked Estate)

About this pipe:

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.

Retailers of Dunhill pipes are often provided with samples of current or upcoming releases from the venerable make. The sale of these pipes is prohibited, so to ensure that they are not simply sold on by the shops in question, they are stamped in the factory with a “NOT FOR SALE” script. Such pipes do, however, often ultimately make their way onto shopfronts, by way of a wonderful little loophole known as the estates market.

Though the nomenclature is a little obscured by its extra stamping, this particular Dunhill looks to be a 1970s make, and it’s a very interesting one at that. Not only is it a “salesman sample” piece, but it’s also an uncommon (and presumably quite early) example of a Dunhill pipe fitted with a vulcanite army mount. Dunhill pipes have worn army fitments since the make’s earliest decades, though vulcanite renditions of such were a much later addition, emerging in the second half of the 20th century.

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

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.57″ / 39.87mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 40g