221B Duke Street; Factory Shank Repair?

[lightmybriar]

Hello friends!
I’ve noticed that a few of my Patent-era Shell Briars have very well-done (to my untrained eye, at least) shank repairs. The line is perfectly straight for the entire circumference of the shank, and it seems that perhaps even the grain of the briar might be different on each side of the line (splicing two different pieces of briar?). The stamping goes over the lines, and it appears that the replacement section has even been sandblasted and spot-rusticated.
Does anybody know if Dunhill did this on stummels prior to stamping and finishing? I can’t see how it could be done like this unless it was done before it was stamped, although I am no expert or trained repair person.
In the pictures, you can just barely make out the line that goes through the second “L” of “Dunhill.”

 

[ashdigger]

I have an old Dunhill that has a shank repair and the stamping is very good. I'll dig it out and photograph it.

 

[lightmybriar]

Thanks, Ash! It’ll be neat and helpful to see if it’s anything like the ones I have.

 

[georged]

The only explanation I can think of is the pipe had an "exploded" shank---meaning a puzzle break---some of the pieces were lost, and the partial stummel was returned to Dunhill for a fix.
There's no reason Dunhill would go to the (considerable) effort shown except by special request. It probably had some personal meaning to its owner. A husband's favorite pipe who died in WWII or something like that.

 

[lightmybriar]

Thanks for your valuable input, George. I did consider that myself, but I talked myself out of that idea because that would mean then that Dunhill would “retro-stamp” the pipe, date-code included, right? Doesn’t that seem unlikely? Forgive me if I’m not understanding correctly.

 

[georged]

The stamping could have been re-done the same as it originally was, or "updated" at the time of the splice. There's little doubt it was erased completely as a result of the repair, so one is as likely as the other.
Where are those time traveling spybot dragonflies when you need them? :lol: I'd love to know the full story.

 

[lightmybriar]

Dangit, George...instead of satisfying my curiosity, you just made this all the more interesting. :: I’m going to check the the others and see if they all have the same stamp.
This brings up another question...if I were to sell any of these repaired pipes, how much do you think their value would be affected? I know pricing collectible items is very open-ended and dependent on what the buyer is willing to pay, so I’m not looking to get an exact figure...but should I considerably lower my asking price if I spot this type of repair on the pipe?

 

[georged]

An argument can be made that a legit factory major structural repair---which the stamp-across-the-splice-line guarantees---makes a pipe MORE interesting and desirable. Such specimens are quite rare. (Probably because buying a new pipe was almost always less expensive.)

 

[lightmybriar]

Here is another of mine. A large Dublin that can’t be dated, because it was stamped post-repair with what I imagine was reserved for the Bruyere finish. Simply “Dunhill London.” Again, you can see the stamp go over the splice.

 

[ashdigger]

I should have time in the morning to get mine out. When I purchased it the pipe was so dirty I didn't know the repair existed.

 

[ashdigger]

Here's a link to that thread and pipe I mentioned
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/dunhill-shell-w-shank-repair-pic-heavy

 

[agnosticpipe]

This is an interesting thread. A year or so ago I picked up this old Kaywoodie that has a shank repair that looks to be factory too, but there's no nomenclature anywhere on it except for the club on the top of the stem. So I'm not sure if it's factory or not. It's well done and has a metal tube inside. Hard to figure why someone had this done unless it was when Kaywoodie pipes were selling for about the same as a Dunhill. I like it because the repair makes it out of the ordinary, as was mentioned by George, but without the stampings maybe not so much.

 

[jpmcwjr]

In antique furniture, that'd be called a "marriage".

 

[lightmybriar]

Ash and Orley, Nice examples!
I definitely will be checking to see if there is any metal reinforcement in my examples.