If/Then, Parker/Dunhill

[kennerth]

If a Parker is a Dunhill with cosmetic flaws, but in construction, materials, and smoking qualities the same as a Dunhill, what is the argument for buying a Dunhill instead of a Parker?
Parker is up to one tenth the price. Dunhill supporters praise the Dunhill's smoking qualities much more frequently than how they look. Russ Ouellette's blog argues for considering pipes with flaws. Where do you stand?

 

[dochudson]

a Yaris is all the car anyone needs.. but, most prefer to buy something else. never confuse want with need.
why does anyone need to justify buying what thy like and can afford? if cost is your main concern not smoking would be your best option. if you want to smoke on the cheap get a cob and some CH that's all you really need for a good smoke.

 

[tokerpipes]

If it looks like a pipe and smokes like a pipe, then it must be a pipe. Its all preference. I have plenty of basket and seconds that fill my need perfectly.

 

[kennerth]

A Yari! Good one Doc! So Doc, would you rather have a Mercedez with three big dents you can never fix, or a perfect Subaru? And, you are most definitely right about the cob!

 

[oakbear]

I have found that a Dunhill is a Dunhill up to a point, then a decision was taken to make it a second. Any work following on from that is not as closely scrutinised, involve the same materials or level of precision as if it were a first.
Therefore many Dunny rejects will have completely different stems or finishes.
In the case of Parker that decision may well have been taken at the unworked block stage.
Does that make them bad pipes? Not at all. They can still be great value, but they're not a Dunhill.

I have a big billiard which was rejected for the grain not being totally even on the blast. Great briar, well shaped and drilled, but it has a so-so finish and a cheap acrylic stem. Smokes great though and cost less than 10% of a new Dunhill.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

Funny that you bring up this topic...I was looking at parkers the other day and decided...NO WAY....the reason for me was because they all have stingers...or at least the ones at pipeandcigars.com...
http://pipesandcigars.com/parkeroflondon.html
EDIT-After looking online and Ebay, some parkers might not have stingers..according to this shop they list if they do or not...

http://www.uktobacco.com/acatalog/Parker_Bruyere_Pipes.html

 

[pstlpkr]

There are some differences emerge from:

Any work following on from that is not as closely scrutinised, involve the same materials or level of precision as if it were a first.

Isn't the Dunhill briar oil cured?

So, therein lies the foundation of the Dunhill and the Parker.

While the outward appearance may differ they are both born from the same origins.

Just my 2 cents, submitted by someone who owns neither.

::

 

[cajunguy]

At one point I had both a Dunhill and a Parker. They both allowed me to smoke tobacco. :rofl:
Seriously, the Dunhill was a 1961 shell briar, restored by me. It smoked well, but so did the Parker. There was a better expression of flavor through the Dunhill. Yet, by the same token, I have an Italian basket pipe ($10) that expresses flavor better than all my other pipes.
I do believe that a great deal more goes into the creation of a white spot pipe than a Parker. But that doesn't necessarily guarantee a certain outcome.

 

[kennerth]

Thank y'all for the well thought out responses!

 

[dhizzy]

You know, I tend to agree with your thinking Kenneth. I tend to think that if it is valuable to you then that is all that matters. Don't get me wrong, one day I plan on owning some very expensive sought after peipes but if today all that I can afford is a Parker, so be it. On the other hand, there is something to be said for saving for a very nice pipe instead of owning a bunch of seconds.

 

[caliban]

I'm also in the market for a Brebbia. How do they compare with Mauro Armellini. I'm smoking a big, beautiful Armellini spigot filled with 4noggin's Weybridge and it's a great experience.

 

[caliban]

Many years ago, I decided to quit smoking and I threw a Dunhill I bought in Iceland in the trash. It didn't work, I'm still happily puffing, and why did the Dunhill have to die!

 

[nsfisher]

We have over 40 coffee cups in the house. Wife uses what ever comes to hand. I use the same cup, day in and day out. Coffee tastes the same in all the cups, doesn't it? Why will I not drink out of any other cup?

 

[cigrmaster]

The difference in a Parker is the drilling, the quality of the briar, fills, quality of the stem. All of these will lead to an inferior smoking experience in my opinion. I also think Dunhill's are over rated for what you get. I own 2, have owned 2 others in the past and while they are good smokers, they are not great smokers. The first 2 I bought were group 5 Bruyere's back in 2001. They retailed for 660.00, I got them for 175.00 and sold them for a profit a couple of years later. The last two were older estates and I got them on the cheap. I won't be buying anymore.

 

[lestrout]

Aren't the currently made Parkers an altogether separate model line than Dunhill? As for the stingers, aren't these the type that can be simply yanked out and discarded? I have found removable stingers in a variety of pipe makes, and I distinguish them from the Pipes from Lee and the Kaywoodie models where the stinger involves a screw mechanism for the stem and not a push-pull stem into which a discardable stinger has been inserted.
hp

les

 

[topd]

I will smoke five bowls out of anything with a stem... whether I smoke a sixth depends on how

it smokes. I have some Dunhills but no Parkers. Not because I have avoided them, just don't

have any.

I'm with fisher on the cups. I have lots of them, hats too. But have one cup I drink out of and

a Stetson Fedora I wear exclusively. I suppose I'll have to replace it eventually.

As for pipes, I have lots of those too, but have my favorites. One is a cheep Yellow Bowl I've been

smoking for 40 years.

I've never sold a pipe but have retired plenty of them to the display cabinet....

and I'll never have a Rolls Royce, but I do have some Dunhills and enjoy them very much!

 

[kennerth]

So, I am beginning to wonder if vision impaired pipe smokers may have an advantage over the rest of us.

 

[marcruby]

If you'll permit a new member to 'pipe up - I'm fortunate in owning a number of Dunhill's (all the way up to a DR****) and a smattering of Parkers and Hardcastles. The latter are recent pipes. My opinion of the latter are that Parkers smoke better that the Hardcastles with the tobaccos I'm using right now (I'm going thru a Pease phase). Their a bit prettier too. But the Hardcastles have better grain, which would imply that they came off the Dunhill line and the Parkers are rejected earlier. IF the relationship is even that close. Truth is that all three are probably friendly, but independent companies. Other than the DR**** there is little to tell - Dunhills tend to be the most carefully made, but as for smokability there are pipes that are better and not a few that are much worse.
The DR**** is a God on it's own though.
Marc

 

[ravkesef]

Tokerpipes said

I have plenty of basket and seconds that fill my need perfectly.

+1 on that. What basket pipes have I picked up? Several Charatans, a few GBDs (with inset brass GBD rondel, no less,) one that I swear must have begun life as a Dunhill, and a few no-names whose provenance I am unable to discern. What fate directed them to the basket? A few appearance flaws, an off-center airhole, a slightly eccentric mortise. What do the they all have in common? They're all great smokers, and none cost over $25. That said, I also have 5 Dunhills, and they're great smokers, but I have others with a lesser pedigree that smoke as well. I have hand mades, factory pipes, and corn cobs. If I keep a pipe, it's because it gives me smoking satisfaction, and every one of my hundred or so pipes does that. That really is the bottom line, whether I picked the pipe out of the basket, or scrimped to buy something a bit more artistic.

 

[drwatson]

Whats a DR**** ?
I have one Dunhill and two Parkers..Both really good pipes. But then I will take my Boswells over them.

Someone here one said that all pipes are just alittle different, even two of the same brand. Chevy vs Ford etc...

They all drive and have wheels but some just come with more show.