I have found little information on Darnley, except a mention in a 1948 issue of PipeLovers magazine. Here's a $5.99 purchase from EBay of a nice example. Made in London, #234S with a cursive "D" stamped on the stem. There's very little wear except some light chipping around the outer rim. The inner rim is perfect. The stem has minor tooth marks near the button. It's a nice size.
I didn't photo the work, but to summarize: I smoothed out the outer rim as opposed to leveling out the whole rim to below the damage. I sanded and sanded the stummel and applied a dark brown dye. It's a nice OLD briar. It doesn't have a lot of grain or birds-eye, but it has some nice figuring, nonetheless. I did the best I could to preserve the stampings. Well worth $5.99!
I didn't photo the work, but to summarize: I smoothed out the outer rim as opposed to leveling out the whole rim to below the damage. I sanded and sanded the stummel and applied a dark brown dye. It's a nice OLD briar. It doesn't have a lot of grain or birds-eye, but it has some nice figuring, nonetheless. I did the best I could to preserve the stampings. Well worth $5.99!