Calling all Dunhill experts

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Ocelot55

Ocelot55

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Messages
1,946
Reaction score
2
Today is a good day. We got in a box of estate pipes we won off of ebay to clean up and resell. At first I saw just the typical suspects, Kaywoodies, Medicos, ect. There was one pipe made completely out of Bakelite and an old Linkman's. Pretty cool pipes and not ones you see too often. Then I picked up the last pipe.

Nomenclature is very faded but it is readable "DUNHILL" over "DUKE ST. S.W." the other side of the shank reads "INNERTUBE" over "PAT No 5861/12." It is also stamped with a shape no. "31," and on large capital "A" which I assume designates it as the Bruyere finish.

I know a little about Dunhills and through some research I know that this is a very old pipe. It pre-dates the date stamping system. What I don't know is when Dunhill stopped stamping their pipes "DUKE ST. S.W." Having that information could give me an idea of the period it was made.

Overall the condition is pretty good considering its age. The stem is chewed up, but no holes, The bowl is caked up pretty good, but the outside of the briar is in good condition, only a few scratches. The rim is caked scorched and dinged, but not so badly that it distorts the shape.

For now I will not be doing any restoration work to this pipe until I figure out more about it. There is also the possibility that it may be for sale sometime in the future so if you guys know of any Dunhill collectors that would be interested please let me know.

Thanks for all your help. (No pics yet. I don't have a camera with me)
 
Wow....

Thanks guys. Looks like I have a 1918 or prior Dunhill Bruyere.

Again if anyone is interested in this old Dunhill please pm me. Depending on what we choose to do I might be posting in the Trading Post section later on.
 
What a great find! What's the condition like?

Always nice to smoke out of a piece of history! You sure you don't
want to keep it? :p
 
Well, I'd love to keep it, but it is not mine to keep. I volunteer at the local B&M doing all the estate restorations and watching the shop on the weekends. of course if they offered it to me I'd be more than happy to keep it.

As far as the condition, I'd say that for being almost 100 years old this pipe is in good shape. Stem is chewed but no holes. Rim is scarred and caked, but still in pretty good shape. It's been buffed a time or two so the nomenclature is pretty dim, but still readable. I don't need a loupe, but I still have young eyes :p Overall I'd say it's in good to fair condition.

If they want to sell it I'll take plenty of pics and post it in the Trading Post section.
 
Words are cheap.

Pictures are awesome. :twisted:

(...or you're just waiting to spruce it up a little...)

8)
 
I'm too nervous to touch the damn thing let alone spruce it up. I took off the stem just to see if the innertube was in there. It wasn't but I was awful nervous about cracking the stem. Probably not much of a concern. The tenon looks nice and slides in and out with just the right amount of friction.
 
Well, the camera flash isn't going to make it turn into a pile of dust, is it? :lol:
 
Keep your britches on, Kyle. I swear you're just a like a kid...a big, hairy kid.

;) :D

I'll get some pics posted as soon as I can.
 
Harlock999":n6t9hys4 said:
Does this pipe pre-date Shell Briars in Dunhill's history?
Click to expand...
I believe the first Shell Briar was in 1917 so.... definitely maybe!
 
Ocelot55":dyhh8gw1 said:
Harlock999":dyhh8gw1 said:
Does this pipe pre-date Shell Briars in Dunhill's history?
Click to expand...
I believe the first Shell Briar was in 1917 so.... definitely maybe!
Click to expand...
OK, thanks!
I may have read that Joel Sasieni thought of the idea of sandblasting briar
while working for Alfred. Anyone else heard this?
 
In your classifieds you have the pipe listed from approx. 1915-1918. Looking at the button on that pipe I'd make a guess that the dates of 1915-18 are pretty close. The white spot looks to be a shade larger than the spot of one that I have from 1912 that I inherited from my great grandfather.

The white spot was introduced around 1912.

http://www.whitespot.co.uk/history.asp
 
One more thing I noticed is that the pipe isn't dyed as red as most other bruyure pipes that dunhill started putting out. It has more of that root briar look than that of the aged bruyere line. The one that I have from that era is exactly the same way. The root briar stamping wasn't introduced at that time. I just find that interesting. :)
 
Ocelot55":mu0t38by said:
Today is a good day. We got in a box of estate pipes we won off of ebay to clean up and resell. At first I saw just the typical suspects, Kaywoodies, Medicos, ect. There was one pipe made completely out of Bakelite and an old Linkman's. Pretty cool pipes and not ones you see too often. Then I picked up the last pipe.
Click to expand...
Wow what a find! I don't know what would be best, restore or sell as is. the few guys out there that might be interested in it to fill a hole in a collection might want it as is to do the resto their way but a guy who wants it to smoke might want it ready to go out of the box. :shock:
 
Top