Dunhill's (Probably) Last Luxurious Tobacco Pipe Project

[menuhin]

When some of us have to take shelter from our Dunhill Tobacco bunker, it might well implies there will also be no more Dunhill pipes in the future.
Let's take a look at this supposedly last luxurious tobacco pipe project of the modern Alfred Dunhill group:

https://www.tecon-gmbh.de/info_pages.php?pages_id=202
https://www.alpascia.com/moments/d/Extremely-Limited-Edition-Pipes-One-of-One-i33296.html

 

[olkofri]

Never cared for the Eiffel thing, but that's really something!

 

[menuhin]

It's definitely a display item. Perhaps for someone who can relate to the build or its architecture, and who like pipe smoking and tobacco; the intersect of these two sets make the target group so small that they become China's new millionaires who like shopping and eating in Paris.
I have also heard artisan pipes of record price are mostly sold to Russians and Chinese these days.
While coffee and chocolate industries are safe, perhaps after another 20-30 years, tobaccos have to be primarily imported from some of these countries:

 

[cigrmaster]

I want one. Damn that is freaking gorgeous. How much is it selling for? Is it to be auctioned or sold straight up? I bet it goes for millions.

 

[Chasing Embers]

That article is from 2015. Wander who got it?

 

[menuhin]

Perhaps it's still available. Even its certificate is stored in a 445gram hand-crafted sterling silver capsule.
If I own articles of this level of beauty and craftsmanship, when I have even the slightest sign of becoming chronically sick due to older age, I would have it immediately donate to museum - after I have smoked it... ::

Because I don't trust the next generation will be handling it with deal care.
There are indeed quite a lot of pipes in museums, and not having them smoked is definitely a big waste. I hope there can be some part time jobs, like how violinists try out vintage violins in museums, where some smokeable pipes are being tested out. Of course, tobacco of choice, consultation fee charged per hour, and other things should be provided by the museums.

 

[sablebrush52]

That old thing? I swapped a couple of Barlings for it, not even my really good stuff. Tossed out the gaudy pipe and the moldy books, tore out the crappy shelving (seriously, what a waste of space!) and stripped off the cheap felt, and gave the interior a coating of clear coat. I keep my pipe cleaners and cleaning rags in it. It's good for that.

 

[menuhin]

...seriously, what a waste of space!...

When I first noticed a whole shelf is built for a pipe, I wondered what is that about. Not a single bit from a utility perspective of a pipe smoker, I realized, but instead completely an altar for this Eiffel Tower structure and its history.
Am I an structural architect / engineer? No. Am I an architect historian for structural buildings? No. But for sure some will identify themselves with it, and have the fortune to acquire it. Soon they'll realize, if not before their purchase, it won't work to put a bottle of scotch or a tin of tobacco inside this whole thing. A designated altar just doesn't fit that.

 

[sablebrush52]

3.5 Million takes it home.

 

[seacaptain]

You can use the top part as a tamper.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Here's a video about it.

https://youtu.be/QhdJWOtOEwM

 

[Chasing Embers]

 

[olkofri]

I saw no price anywhere.

 

[Chasing Embers]

From Robb Report.

Six years ago, the Smokers Division of Alfred Dunhill Ltd., the London luxury-goods maker, set out to create a pipe that would embody elegant living, high art, and fine craftsmanship. Kalmon Hener, the brand’s product line director, designed a singular piece based on the Eiffel Tower, and like the structure itself, it is a marvel of intricacy and engineering. The project was completed earlier this year, as Dunhill renamed its Smokers Division the White Spot (www.whitespot.co.uk), with a bowl carved from a single piece of flawless briarwood and a tower hand cut from sheets of 18-karat gold and embellished with 492 diamonds, 140 sapphires, 20 rubies, and a cornflower-blue 3.75-carat Sri Lankan sapphire. A cabinet decorated with an inlaid image of workers building the Eiffel Tower holds the pipe and five rare books about the Paris landmark, including volumes commissioned by Gustave Eiffel in 1900. The entire piece is valued at $3.5 million. “This is not a pipe,” Hener says, unintentionally alluding to René Magritte’s surrealist painting The Treachery of Images. “It is a symbol.”

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

That's a waste of good straight grain.

 

[huntertrw]

Does the very top of the tower flash (like an obstruction beacon) as the pipe is smoked?

 

[huntertrw]

The entire piece is valued at $3.5 million.

$3.5 million? Bosh! For less than half that amount any you can own this masterpiece.

It, too, is a "symbol," although of exactly what the seller is unsure.

 

[btp79]

I keep it next to my 10 boxes of Gurkha Black Dragon cigars :roll:

 

[wyfbane]

What an amazing work of art. Love this. I don't $3.5 mil love it, but it is awesome!

 

[puffermark]

To any prospective buyer (with apologies to Mr Eastwood in his role of Josey Wales):
"Well, are you going to smoke that thing or whistle Dixie?"