Dunhill » Dunhill: 60

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Dunhill 1926 Shell Shape 60

Jim Cooke, perhaps the greatest sandblaster of all times, has carefully "deconstructed" the early Dunhill shells, based upon his own 35-odd years of experience with this technique. He believes that the early craftsmen who made them were joyfully experimenting with the recently discovered method, and seeing how just how far they could push it in their search to reveal the underlying grain of the briar. My own suspicion is that they did so with the active encouragement of their supreme leader, Alfred D, who was in today's terminology a true pipe "geek" and the one who had pioneered the technique in the first place. The earliest examples, from 1921-1922, were so heavily blasted as to become quite irregular and misshapen, as a result of which they carried no shape numbers to prevent confusion with precisely cut smooth pieces of similar design. But by 1926 when the present pipe was made, the technique had been mastered to the point where the shapes were remained quite recognizable, although the surfaces were very deeply etched.

So indeed we have the classic Shape 60 billiard, a design that proved of such enduring popularity that it was made for the next 75 years. It is interesting to compare it to a more contemporary piece, a Root from 1964. The proportions are very similar as is the overall size; but the early pipe's bowl is canted distinctly forward, which to my eye gives it greater dynamism and visual interest. But what captures the attention is, of course, the stunning blast, which is deep and craggy in the best pre-War style, and emphasized by the double staining technique that Dunhill developed, and which was widely imitated by pipe makers all over the world for the next 80 years. But as noted, despite the aggressiveness of the blasting, the shape is clear and crisp, a real tribute to the expertise of Dunhill's craftsmen.

Happily, the former British owner of this pipe cherished it, preserving the blast, the bowl, the rim, the bit and the nomenclature in a condition not unlike that in which it was first presented at the Duke Street store. It is a sweetheart of a pipe, one that will deliver wonderful smokes from its old Algerian briar yet preserving its value for many years to come.

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Dunhill 1959 Tanshell Shape 60

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Dunhill 1964 Root Shape 60

A pure classical billiard of excellent proportions, one that is distinguished by very nice birdseye and mixed grain all over the Group 4 bowl. A shape that Dunhill brought to perhaps its highest level.