Are Dunhill pipes today as good as they used to be?

[alialansari]

Hey there folks, I hope everyone's doing well.

I read somewhere that Dunhill pipes made in the sixties and before are the absolute best (something about oil curing the briar), and that pipes made after can't hold a candle no matter what.

Is this true? If I'm looking to buy a Dunhill am I better off buying an estate from those years or is a new Dunhill pipe just as good if not better?

Thanks folks!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Dunhill brand pipes were discontinued in 2011. They're Alfred Dunhill's White Spot now.

 

[warren]

If I'm looking to buy a Dunhill am I better off buying an estate from those years or is a new Dunhill pipe just as good if not better?

Depends on who you are reading. The latest Dunhill pipes, "White Spots" are only tenuously and distantly related to the Dunhill pipes made and vended under the supervision of Alfred Dunhill, originally the producer and vendor of leather goods and luxury auto parts. You are asking about two distinctly different brands. You should probably "Google" Dunhill and do a bit of reading. Parse the resp9onses you will get here and then make your own determination.

 

[jguss]

Since the average age of the old timers around here is about 108 the answer to the question were things better in the past will always be yes.

So yes, Dunhills of yore are yore best bet. My personal favorites are sandblasts made between 1920-1959.

 

[mingc]

Hey there folks, I hope everyone's doing well.

I read somewhere that Dunhill pipes made in the sixties and before are the absolute best (something about oil curing the briar), and that pipes made after can't hold a candle no matter what.

Is this true? If I'm looking to buy a Dunhill am I better off buying an estate from those years or is a new Dunhill pipe just as good if not better?

Thanks folks!

New anything sucks. Kids these days know nothing. Everything is made to fall apart nowadays. Bah!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Everything is made to fall apart nowadays.

No kidding. The Central Air and Heating system in my home was said to last 20-30 years when I bought my house. Twenty-five years later I replaced it with the same brand and was told it had a 10-15 year life expectancy.

 

[alialansari]

No kidding. The Central Air and Heating system in my home was said to last 20-30 years when I bought my house. Twenty-five years later I replaced it with the same brand and was told it had a 10-15 year life expectancy.

God help us all!!

 

[lraisch]

Just one person's opinion here.

I have a Dunhill from 1999, one from 1974, both purchased new and my birth year pipe from 1949.

The newer ones are OK, but the Shell finish from 1949 is definitely better. That's too small a sample to prove anything, but I would stay with the estate market.

In particular, I believe that the Shell finish pipes changed after 1963 when Algerian briar was not available.

 

[mikethompson]

Was everything really built better in the past? Perhaps that's a subject for another thread.

I will say that older Dunhills have quite a following on here, and it would be odd if they all were mistaken. I've only had an older Dunhill once, and briefly before flipping it, so my own personal experience doesn't count for much!

 

[jguss]

Was everything really built better in the past? Perhaps that's a subject for another thread.

Or the subject of a Woody Allen movie.

 

[mikethompson]

Was Woody Allen really better in the past? Perhaps that's a subject for another thread.

 

[trouttimes]

I have several in the 50’s, a few in the 60’s and a few around 2000. The older ones (50’s) definitely smoke better for me. The 2000’s seem to smoke brighter or sharper than the older pipes.

 

[shanez]

I have several new ones that are every bit as good as my old ones.

My current hypothesis is that every brand and year of all pipes has its duds. Most of the old Dunhill duds have simply been removed from the pipe gene pool, so to speak. There are still some old crappy ones out there I'm sure.

Old does not equal better and new does not equal worse. If you want one without the "White Spot" nomenclature you are however stuck with an older one.

The new "White Spot" pipes still bear The Dunhill name on them, for now anyways.

 

[ThermionicScott]

No kidding. The Central Air and Heating system in my home was said to last 20-30 years when I bought my house. Twenty-five years later I replaced it with the same brand and was told it had a 10-15 year life expectancy.

You must live in an older house (as I do.) I’ve read that new buildings are generally only built to last for the length of the mortgage, the expectation being that they are likely to be torn down again for a newer build after that.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You must live in an older house (as I do.) I’ve read that new buildings are generally only built to last for the length of the mortgage, the expectation being that they are likely to be torn down again for a newer build after that.

Built in '72, I bought it back in '91.

 

[warren]

they are likely to be torn down again for a newer build after that.

Custom builders still build quality. That's how they stay in business. Custom homes, quality built is a highly competitive business.

Pipes? Quality varies with owner shifts, quality of the "craftsmen, and so forth. But, a pipe built under the aegis of Alfred was usually perfection. Alfred catered to the "carriage crowd" so he had to offer a quality product. Alfred retired due to health in 1928? and his son "Alfred" took over. He seemed to maintain the same quality as his father. The grandchildren? Umm, not so much.

 

[mso489]

I'm not a Dunhill or White Spot owner, but I'd guess that pipes that survive decades of at least some use self-select for being high quality, whereas the less well-built pipes have cycled out of use. Whether the brand is innately better, I don't know. Remember, though Dunhill was always a quality pipe, before 1960 or so, it was second in perceived quality and price to Kaywoodie pipes, and neither Dunhill nor Kaywoodie was as expensive (corrected for inflation) as White Spot today.

I think White Spot is probably one of the better factory pipes, but the pricing on new White Spots is distinctly high compared to pipes of comparable quality. The estate market is all over the map, but generally higher than other brand pipes of comparable age and quality.

 

[vosBghos]

Hunt down your birth year and grab one if even for that super fun and a great pipe

 

[sablebrush52]

Hey there folks, I hope everyone's doing well.

I read somewhere that Dunhill pipes made in the sixties and before are the absolute best (something about oil curing the briar), and that pipes made after can't hold a candle no matter what.

Is this true? If I'm looking to buy a Dunhill am I better off buying an estate from those years or is a new Dunhill pipe just as good if not better?

Thanks folks!

Every pipe maker has its share of myths and Dunhill is no exception. The period from roughly 1958 thru 1968 is considered by some as one of the marque's best periods and that the brand suffered a loos of quality when their pipe making department was reorganized in 1968. Many feel that pipes made during the 1980's are very well made and that pipes made in the 1970's are not of the same quality.

Output is always variable, to some small degree, from pipe to pipe. There may be styles or periods that attract collectors, like Dunhill's early craggy sandblasts, when they were still using Algerian briar. Their later sandblasts are more "refined".

Personally, about 95% of the pipes I've smoked, from wherever they originate, smoke about the same. I've given away pipes that became someone else's favorite. One of my favorite smokers is a Brebbia Avanti, an inexpensive pipe that consistently delivers great flavors. Another is a large billiard I commissioned from Jack Howell. And I have a few Barlings andComoys that seem to offer me a more pleasurable smoking experience, as well as an inexpensive Preben Holm "reject" that I smoke all the time.

Also, one person's magic pipe is another's so so pipe. The experience is highly personal and subjective, which renders generalities highly suspect at most.

 

[anotherbob]

I also think that pipes might age. My oldest pipe smokes differently then it did when I first got it. It's been a great pipe always but after 20 years it's gotten more magic dust. And it doesn't just feel like seasoning or anything like that. My point is that putting your finger on what makes a pipe great or what years are consistently the best is a fools errand. There are more ways to prove there isn't a way to say what pipe or pipe period is the best. Though one thing I have found is that trusting my gut on a particular pipe seems more accurate then anything me or anyone else could say about the quality of a particular pedigree of pipe.
One thing the psychological aspect will always be stronger on these things then people will ever really want to admit. If a pipe is special just a real treasure, it will smoke better then the same pipe if you consider it a cheap piece of whatever. For one it changes the ritual of smoking it. Even if just subtly you prepare for a special smoke because it's with a Dunhill then your senses will be more ready to sense then if you say it's just a pipe and it's nothing special (of course that same scenario can do the other way, sometimes the best smoke is just a smoke).
My point only you can really answer that question. Does a older Dunhill feel more special? Cause honestly the tool can only do so much and the person with the tool can do so much more.