Interesting Completed Ebay Auctions - British Pipes

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Dec 10, 2013
2,316
2,942
Nijmegen, the Netherlands

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Love it whe none of these old timers show up, still as they were made. The blast is nothing special and there appears to be some wear at one area of the bowl where the staining has rubbed away.
 
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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,412
6,215
Love it whe none of these old timers show up, still as they were made. The blast is nothing special and there appears to be some wear at one area of the bowl where the staining has rubbed away.

It doesn’t float my boat but I can understand the appeal for the right (well-heeled) buyer.
 
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georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920

I can't tell for sure without having the pipe in hand, but if unsmoked, why does the inside of the chamber look to have been significantly sanded (marks, plus the sharp inner rim edge keeps screaming, "Look at me! Look at me!"); have should-have-been-easily-seen-by-QA-at-the-time vertical cracks; have patches of undercolor (cordovan) which looks to have been used to camouflage the naked wood after sanding; and the outside of the bowl show handling wear?

It also has many tiny "tells" both external and internal which indicate it was "restored" by someone... If never smoked, why would would that be necessary? Especially, why would the INTERNALS show signs of manipulation/use?

Unused pipes in "as found" condition look quite different.

Hm.

It is possible that those things were somehow characteristic of the VERY earliest Dunhill production when procedures were still being worked out, but if so it would be the first I've heard it.
 

greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,125
12,189
This Dunhill set sold for $2,205 just days ago:


And now it's up for sale from a French seller for half the previous selling price. (I can't provide the link as it's active)
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
5,765
47,543
Minnesota USA
"Unsmoked" as in hasn't been smoked since I dicked with it....
Pretty east to see the chamber has been burned in, and the opening at the airway wouldn't look like that if it hadn't been smoked. It'd be sharp edges and not rounded over and distorted.
 
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Dec 10, 2013
2,316
2,942
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
This Dunhill set sold for $2,205 just days ago:


And now it's up for sale from a French seller for half the previous selling price. (I can't provide the link as it's active)
Fishy. I smell a sham. It makes no sense and the "seller" has one pos. review.
 
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Dec 10, 2013
2,316
2,942
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
This Dunhill set sold for $2,205 just days ago:


And now it's up for sale from a French seller for half the previous selling price. (I can't provide the link as it's active)
Nice set, how close can we get to dating it ?
 
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Dec 10, 2013
2,316
2,942
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
I can't tell for sure without having the pipe in hand, but if unsmoked, why does the inside of the chamber look to have been significantly sanded (marks, plus the sharp inner rim edge keeps screaming, "Look at me! Look at me!"); have should-have-been-easily-seen-by-QA-at-the-time vertical cracks; have patches of undercolor (cordovan) which looks to have been used to camouflage the naked wood after sanding; and the outside of the bowl show handling wear?

It also has many tiny "tells" both external and internal which indicate it was "restored" by someone... If never smoked, why would would that be necessary? Especially, why would the INTERNALS show signs of manipulation/use?

Unused pipes in "as found" condition look quite different.

Hm.

It is possible that those things were somehow characteristic of the VERY earliest Dunhill production when procedures were still being worked out, but if so it would be the first I've heard it.
We need to tread carefully here, but I did not feel comfortable with this one.
The most refurbished "unsmoked " pipe I've ever seen. The blast does not speak to me one bit, but that is
a matter of taste. The blast also lost it "sharp edges " and the bowl seems way to glossy for an unsmoked pipe that age.
I suspect the seller perked it up for sale. Not really thought through entirely, but it did not deter the winner .
There is some rim ( stain ) wear ( to my eye ) and the inner edge looks way to sharp.
What puzzles me most is the condition of the chamber. I''ve never seen "drill marks" in an unsmoked pipe.
Not in a smoked one either, for that matter. Look like sanding marks to me. Marks from the chuck (?) happen in both unsmoked and lightly smoked pipes and might indicate something positive. There are scars, or cracks, in the chamber and as George pointed out it looks to have had a touch of diluted stain. I cannot tell about the mortise, but it does not look entirely clean.
Stem looks fine, residu of lint and some scatches on the innertube .
Some years ago I purchased an " unsmoked " Preben Holm Zodiac pipe from a German seller.
It was a lovely smooth pipe , showing wonderful grain and I bought it for a song, but I suspected a refurbished one. Chuck marks were still to be seen, but the bowl was reamed and sanded. I contacted the seller and he responded quite offended and defensive.
Some searching turned out he won it on Ebay , cleaned it up and resold it as unsmoked. His profit was maybe $10,00 .
Bloody ridiculous and I pestered him with my mails for quite a while.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Nice set, how close can we get to dating it ?
Somewhere between 1921 and 1931. Split the difference and say 1926. Too little resolution to read the numbers, but the words "Dunhill's Shell Briar" were used during that point in time, according to Pipephil's elaborate and disjointed Dunhill dating guide.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,623
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
We need to tread carefully here, but I did not feel comfortable with this one.
The most refurbished "unsmoked " pipe I've ever seen. The blast does not speak to me one bit, but that is
a matter of taste. The blast also lost it "sharp edges " and the bowl seems way to glossy for an unsmoked pipe that age.
I suspect the seller perked it up for sale. Not really thought through entirely, but it did not deter the winner .
There is some rim ( stain ) wear ( to my eye ) and the inner edge looks way to sharp.
What puzzles me most is the condition of the chamber. I''ve never seen "drill marks" in an unsmoked pipe.
Not in a smoked one either, for that matter. Look like sanding marks to me. Marks from the chuck (?) happen in both unsmoked and lightly smoked pipes and might indicate something positive. There are scars, or cracks, in the chamber and as George pointed out it looks to have had a touch of diluted stain. I cannot tell about the mortise, but it does not look entirely clean.
Stem looks fine, residu of lint and some scatches on the innertube .
Some years ago I purchased an " unsmoked " Preben Holm Zodiac pipe from a German seller.
It was a lovely smooth pipe , showing wonderful grain and I bought it for a song, but I suspected a refurbished one. Chuck marks were still to be seen, but the bowl was reamed and sanded. I contacted the seller and he responded quite offended and defensive.
Some searching turned out he won it on Ebay , cleaned it up and resold it as unsmoked. His profit was maybe $10,00 .
Bloody ridiculous and I pestered him with my mails for quite a while.
This may be all that everyone says it is, or it may be an over zealous and not terribly expert job of applying lipstick to an unsmoked pig. Never make conclusions based off of photographs, unless they're really expertly done photographs, which none of these are. I know a lot about how photographs can lie. That was an ancillary part of my career for 4 decades.
As George said, you have to have the object in hand to be sure.
 
May 9, 2021
1,660
3,535
55
Geoje Island South Korea
Wow!. Was watching this one. But didn't see what it went for.
 
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greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,125
12,189
Someone sniped this old Ben Wade away from me at $56. Admittedly I didn't try very hard as funds are lean at the moment, and I have a few other examples of this more modest grade of Wade. The band isn't silver, rather it's electro-plated, hence the "EP" designation and the "B W L" faux marks rather than authentic silver date marks.