Dunhill SK Help Please

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verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
Greetings all,
I need some help with a recent purchase. Dunhill SK. Seems to be an oddity.
I'm new, so I need to figure out picture posting, but here is what I think I know from the stamping:
Group 4 size because of the number 4 inside a circle

Bruyere finish because of letter A next to the circled 4

Dunhill over London on the same side of the pipe as the above
On the other side of the pipe the nomenclature reads:
Made in England (in line)

SK F/T (which I believe is the shape "SK" and the F/T indicates fishtail?)
I know a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will try to get one posted. Until then, here's my (bad) description: it looks like an egg laying on its side riding on a singe ice-skate blade, with the tip of the blade sticking out in front of the egg about an 1/8th of an inch. It's a very odd shape. Slightly bent stem (maybe 1/8th bent). It is just so odd, that it followed me home because it captured my attention and wouldn't get out of my head. Certainly nothing in the Dunhill catalog that I've ever seen before, but the quality is good and I don't believe it's a knock off. Can't imagine why anybody would try to fake such an obscure item anyway.
Anybody have any idea what this thing is, when it was made? Is is rare or just ... odd?
Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Always figured I would try a Dunhill someday, but not in a million years did I envision this one. Still, it is a curiosity.
Thank you gentlemen!

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
img_1836-600x450.jpg


 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,346
Looks a bit like a tadpole. Seems Dunhill had a couple of wacky ones before the real Dunhills stopped production.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
Congratulations on posting photos; some have never learned and some are too lazy or indifferent.
Very interesting piece there! Can you get close ups of the nomenclature?

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
No date code whatsoever. The only stamping on the pipe is what is listed above. I've spent a fair few days trying to get it narrowed down, but I am out of ideas, so I decided to send up a flare to the Baker Street Irregulars and see what happens.

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
img_1840-600x450.jpg

Sorry for the rather poor photos, these are the best that I can get with my phone camera and the available lighting

 

lightmybriar

Lifer
Mar 11, 2014
1,315
1,838
SK must stand for So Kool! 8) . I think the Group Number will place this post-1950, but the Dunhill over London places this pre-1954? That’s off of the top of my head.

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
The shape is way outside my normal style, but it was so unusual that I kept thinking about it for days after I had seen it in an obscure little shop, and finally I just gave in to the inevitable PAD and telephoned the proprietor (no website, no credit cards, sends items with an invoice - what a great old school shop!) and asked them to ship it to me.
Now I'm losing sleep because my Google Fu isn't up to the task and I haven't been able to figure out just what I've bought.
You know PAD is ruling your actions when you buy something that you have NO idea what it is, what it's worth, or even if you like it. You just know you MUST HAVE IT. 8O

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
Thanks jpmcwjr, that looks much better! You can actually read the stamping now. Haven't figured out how to supersize photos yet. Still learning.

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Congrats on a rare find. 8)
At one time Dunhill actually solicited sketches/designs and if practical/possible would make them as close as reality permitted. It must have been terribly expensive, because few were ever actually made. (I've been going to shows & etc. for 40 years and only seen a dozen or so.)
Enjoy! :clap:

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
Wow! I had a hunch that it might be a bit rare, but I'm no kind of expert at all on Dunhill, or anything else for that matter.
It kept calling my name. Of course, that didn't work out so well for Gollum, now that I think about it....

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
Just for fun I'll be the skeptic of the bunch. I'm no Dunhill pipe expert (or an expert on anything either)... but, the capital A is much larger than the number 4 which is unusual. There is no number after the D in England which is not unheard of but highly unusual, and the SK F/T looks wonky and appears much larger than the usual stamping Dunhill used for shape & fishtail designation. But, after reading what georged wrote, I have only one eyebrow raised rather than both. (-:

 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
I've sent georged a PM ( at least I think I did - I'm not seeing a "sent" message in my folder and I'm brand new at this...? ) asking if he would be willing to take a look at it in person and give it a good cleaning and such. I'm just really curious to learn as much as I can about it. Wouldn't be a catastrophe if it were to turn out to be a fake, but it would be even more interesting to learn the date and backstory to this shape if it is a custom made thing from somebody's own design or sketch. How cool would that be?!

 
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