Is a Dunhill Worth the Cost?

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sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
I'm thinking of saving up for a Dunhill. I'm not sure I can pull the trigger on a classic shell grain billiard, but I keep wondering is it really worth the price? Is the quality that good on a Dunhill? What are your thoughts?

 

seacaptain

Lifer
Apr 24, 2015
1,829
7
If you can get a Dunhill in the $400 range, they're worth it. Some of the American sellers have Dunhill's in the $700 range. I don't think those are a good value. My $400 Savinelli GDO is a better pipe than my $400 Dunhill. But don't get me wrong, I love my Dunhill too.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Dunhill is subject to a sort of "brand tax." You pay half again or twice as much for the honor of owning a new one, anyway. There are better deals to be had ordering new Dunhills from Europe right now, with the Euro down. There are bargains to be had in estate Dunhills. Still, wherever you go with this, you will pay more than for comparable pipes, including very good ones. Compare prices with Ashtons, Ferndowns (Les Wood was a Dunhill carver afterall) and other quality English pipes. I think you only own a Dunhill if you own a Dunhill -- you buy it for the name and that is costly. If you have a good rotation of pipes and enough tobacco, or income to buy it, and can afford a Dunhill and want one, it's a fair purchase. foggy, one of our most ardent Dunhill pipe smokers and buyers, only approves of some of the Dunhill lines, mostly smooth finish, if you can track back to his posts on the subject. Other Forums members have said their Dunhills don't smoke better than some of their other pipes. If you're expecting a whole new experience, you may not get that. A Dunhill is a good thing (though I don't own one) and if you get to the place where " the thrill is gone," they resell well.

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
Is it "International Re-visit Time Worn Topics Week" on the forums this week? Probably not, more likely I'm just extra-crotchety.
Sparrow, this is a topic which has popped with some regularity, and which generally brings the following assessment:

1) New Dunhill prices are very high compared to other current era factory pipes and are priced according to demand/brand recognition and quality.

2) New Dunhil pipes are (generally) very high quality, high grade, factory pipes.

3) Better deals on Dunhill pipes can be had by buying estate pipes.

4) Many believe the quality of Dunhill estate pipes to be higher than some of the new pipes.
2010 - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/are-dunhill-pipes-even-worth-it

2011 - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/buy-a-dunhill-pipe

2013 - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/dunhill-whats-with-all-the-allure

2014 - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/shocked-at-dunhill-price-increases
I own one Dunhill. It is a birth year group 1 shell briar which I love. It smokes wonderfully well, and I am happy with it. It isn't my best smoker. If given the choice of buying a new pipe from a carver like Rad Davis or paying the same amount for a new Dunhill, I would buy a Rad.
I hope that this helps inform your decision.
-- Pat

 

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
For me about $200 is the top of my price range no matter what kind of pipe we're talking about, and I only have one in that category, and I'm trying to sell it.
edit...See Thread, New Scott Hudson Reverse Calabash.

 

beefeater33

Lifer
Apr 14, 2014
4,063
6,119
Central Ohio
Nah.... Them OLD Dunhills from the 1920s-1940s are really poor smokers.........nothing to look at, nothing to see.......move along, don't bid on them, not worth the $$............ 8)

 
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
Dunhill's are definitely not worth the prices they sell for.
Unless you disagree with me - in which case they totally are.

 

pruss

Lifer
Feb 6, 2013
3,558
370
Mytown
Dunhill's are definitely not worth the prices they sell for.
The thing that belies this point is the fact that Dunhill continues to make pipes, charge high prices, and stays in business buy making more pipes, and selling them at high prices, which allows them to make more pipes, and sell them at high prices...
You see where I'm headed with this?
-- Pat

 

lochinvar

Lifer
Oct 22, 2013
1,687
1,632
Sometimes. I can't say I'm 100% on my Dunhill purchases, out of five I have owned I still have two, but those two are champs.

 

elpfeife

Lifer
Dec 25, 2013
1,288
477
And to repeat another frequently made point, buy new Dunhills from Novelli or Al Pascia and your price will be something that you can live with. Our resident Dunhill expert, Foggy, has said he thinks the Dunnies made in this century are better than previously (or something like that). Forgive me if I misrepresented you, Foggy.

 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Absolutely YES, they are worth more. Except when the answer is NO, they are not.
It involves being able to collaboratively actualize high standards in synergy, and appropriately streamline economically sound schemas in pursuit of continually predominating inter-mandated ideas and client-focused channels. In other words, to communicate the coordination of cross-media, and intrinsically engineer mission-critical functionalities in the idea matrix.

 

shaintiques

Lifer
Jul 13, 2011
3,615
227
Georgia
Hey Fred. I have a number of good Dunhills, but if I were you I would save up for a handmade pipe by one of the current hot carvers. You could have some classic shape commissioned exactly how you want it for the price of a new Dunhill. That will be where all of my pipe money goes in the future.

 

dmcmtk

Lifer
Aug 23, 2013
3,672
1,685
It involves being able to collaboratively actualize high standards in synergy, and appropriately streamline economically sound schemas in pursuit of continually predominating inter-mandated ideas and client-focused channels. In other words, to communicate the coordination of cross-media, and intrinsically engineer mission-critical functionalities in the idea matrix.
:rofl: Could it be any clearer? I only have five, 1935, two 1940-45, 1969, 1975. All good smokers, bought as estates. Would I spring for a new one...maybe if I didn't have one, and couldn't find a nice estate. There are good links, as I recall, in the threads Pat referenced.

 

brudnod

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 26, 2013
938
6
Great Falls, VA
GeorgeD, I completely agree... I think.

My own take, probably expressed previously in a similar post, is that Dunhills are overpriced for the relative smoking experience. I appreciate the aesthetics, the well seasoned briar and the consistency of the workmanship. I just have a limit on how much I spend on pipes, and most Dunhills are WAY beyond that. Although I have a great number of pipes, I am still and am likely to always be, a pipe smoker.

 

bullethead

Lurker
Jun 20, 2015
47
1
I have paid about $600-$700 for two new Dunhills each. They are glorious. Really nice smokers, and very beautiful to look at.

 
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