1950 Dunhill 120 Shell

[doctorbob]

Picked this one up from ebay, cleaned up into 'like new' condition. Stamping is extraordinarily sharp, with a pristine stem, passes a cleaner, and smokes sweet and dry. My response to most factory blasting (a opposed to true artisan level sandblasting) is usually meh... But this pipe is gorgeous!
The listing said they thought it had a band at one time, and I agree that the pipe might have been intended for a band from the factory since there is an unblasted section of briar at the end of the shank, but I see no compression marks or other damage I would associate with a band being fitted. Plus any band would have covered the group stamp, so I don't know.
It is a patent pipe that dates to 1950, has a group stamp, but no finish letter code.

 

[mackeson]

That is a Bea-utiful pipe! Great acquisition. Congrats on the auction win!

 

[xrundog]

Some of those older Dunhill blasts are really, really sweet. Looks good to me. :D

 

[papipeguy]

Quite nice. Beautiful classic lines and what a finish. Enjoy.

 

[georged]

I'd love to know the backstory of the masking stripe at the end of the shank.
I've seen many thousands of Dunhills and that's a first. Blasting to the edge while maintaining a convincingly smooth shank/stem transition was a point of pride for them because it is technically more difficult.
Can you take a pic of the nomenclature?

 

[doctorbob]

I can, wait...

 

[doctorbob]

 

[graydawn]

Beautiful pipe and blast. George, I'm with you, Dunhill never had a tape mark at the shank stem junction. Perhaps a replacement bit?

 

[georged]

George, I'm with you, Dunhill never had a tape mark at the shank stem junction. Perhaps a replacement bit?

That doesn't make sense, either. The smooth ring is higher than the adjacent textured surface, not lower, and the tricky part when fitting a rep stem is achieving flush without removing wood from the shank.
Hard to be sure without having it in hand, but the stem looks original based on the pics so far.
As for the pipe itself---the blast, condition, crispy nomenclature, etc.---that's about as good as those things get. Great find. :D
---
PS for DoctorBob: I don't think that pipe wore a metal band at any time.

 

[doctorbob]

The stem is consistent with the maker and the era. The end of the shank was masked before blasting, that much is certain as the smooth area is ABOVE the level of the blast.
Doc

 

[graydawn]

Ok, I can see that now. Thanks. Not really wide enough for much of a band. Ever see a 120 with a factory band?

 

[georged]

If forced to put down money on a guess, I'd say the answer to the mystery is simply that a step was skipped during production---the post-blast texture blending that Dunhill did by hand at the end of the shank for Shells and Tanshells---and some QA guy was sipping his tea when it scooted past during final inspection.

 

[georged]

Ever see a 120 with a factory band?

There are a few presentation-style gold banded 120's out there. Most were retro-fitted, though, to meet a special request.

 

[doctorbob]

Thanks to all for the input, I'm pleased as punch with this pipe.
Doc

 

[cigrmaster]

That is a gorgeous Dunhill. I love the blast and the classic shaping is hard to beat. Congrats on a wonderful addition to your collection.

 

[jpmcwjr]

As well you should be! It's a winner all around.

 

[ssjones]

Welcome to Club 120 - that is one heck of a blast!

 

[beefeater33]

Congrats on that one! I had it in my watch list- glad it went to a forum member, a beauty for sure........ ::

 

[danielplainview]

I see why you had to have it. Great shape and nice blast. Congrats.

 

[voorhees]

That is a beauty. Much larger than the 120 I once had. It was a group 2.