Dunhill Bowling Ball Stems Questions

[runscott]

...and my Canadian with the brindle stem is actually a 1933 The earliest date I'm finding people talking about 'brindle' in pipe forums is 1930's.

 

[Chasing Embers]

tortoiseshell

Given that vulcanite was their go to for inorganic stem material, that may have been their name for swirled vulcanite prior to brindle.

 

[runscott]

Given that vulcanite was their go to for inorganic stem material, that may have been their name for swirled vulcanite prior to brindle.

There was a picture of it in the catalog and it looked like horn.

 

[ssjones]

There was a picture of it in the catalog and it looked like horn.

I saw that catalog page earlier today, it's hard to tell from those pictures, which are more like drawings.
Tortoiseshell eyeglass frames were very popular in the 1920's and apparently made from the Hawksbill tortoise, for wealthy clients. Whats the chance the Dunhill stems were made from the same material?

A Brief History of Tortoiseshell Glasses

blog.cutlerandgross.com

 

[Choatecav]

Great information in this thread, always appreciate the knowledge available on this forum. Thanks for sharing.

Amen to this comment.

 

[runscott]

I saw that catalog page earlier today, it's hard to tell from those pictures, which are more like drawings.
Tortoiseshell eyeglass frames were very popular in the 1920's and apparently made from the Hawksbill tortoise, for wealthy clients. Whats the chance the Dunhill stems were made from the same material?

A Brief History of Tortoiseshell Glasses

blog.cutlerandgross.com

I don't know. I thought it strange that the options were ivory, amber and tortoiseshell. I've seen a few early Dunhill stems that I was 'sure' were horn, and I've had my 'About Smoke' for a while.

But I've never seen an amber Dunhill and only one ivory <=== antique store dream finds

 

[runscott]

Okay, my googling is improving. Found an example of a 1931 Root Briar with a brindle stem (sold by SmokingPipes), and also found information that the Root Briar was introduced in 1931.

Not sure how I missed it, but finally spotted the 'R' on my 1933 brindle stem. Glad I spotted that before trying to stain it plum!

 

[Cloozoe]

I have a 1930's Dunhill 'bowling ball' stem that I fitted to a1936 Dunhill. The earliest bowling ball stem example I can find is a 1933, and all of them that I've found were fitted to 'Root Briar' pipes.

Questions: What's the earliest that these came out? Were they a stem option for pipes other than the Root briars?

I have a 1931 and I believe that was the first year, created specifically for the introduction of the Root. I've never seen one from the '30s on anything but a Root.

 

[runscott]

Here's my 1933 347 Root Briar - just restored. Missed getting plum-stained by one beer.