Stanwell Reg Era Hand Made 81R XL Smooth Lovat Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Stanwell is one of Denmark’s most celebrated and enduring pipe companies, having been founded by Poul Nielsen shortly after the second world war. Over the last six decades, Stanwell has established itself as both a leader in innovative Danish design and for producing well-priced pipes with precision construction and engineering. Many of its designs were created for the company by iconic pipe-makers in the Scandinavian scene, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Anne Julie, Jess Chonowitsch, and Tom Eltang.

The 81R was one of a number of shapes Stanwell debuted in the 1960s, under the collective name “Giants.” One could compare them to the Dunhill OD series, as the Giants were, like the ODs, a mixture of extra large pipes, and fairly large pipes of unusual (in this case, Danish) design. The 81R was somewhere on the borderline between a saddle billiard and a Lovat, and was indeed a big chunk of briar. It is also one of the shapes in Stanwell’s catalogs of the time that was only available in the premium Hand Made line, presumably due to its exceptional proportions. By the mid-1970s, the 81R had disappeared from Stanwell’s catalogs, however, as the company leaned even further into its signature “Danish design” with many of its classical renditions falling by the wayside. I would estimate this as being a mid-1960s to mid-1970s make (some would argue that the registration number stamp puts it as pre-1970, though as our Guide to Dating Stanwell Pipes demonstrates, this long-held theory is simply not tenable).

The condition is very good. Some wear to the rim and a few small scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 1.90″ / 48.26mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g