Mind Experiment on Dunhill Prices

[mso489]

Not to beat yon dead horse, but this subject seems perpetually of interest. This question crossed my mind. If Dunhill pipes were exactly one half what they currently are, at the retailers with the best prices like one or two of our sponsors, would they be a great deal or still pretty pricey? They would still be several hundred dollars. They would still be comparable to many quality artisan pipes. Would new Dunhills at half the price make you jump? Or would they still be pricey compared to other excellent pipes you could buy at that price or somewhat less? (I'm not a Dunhill guy, so I'm a little cold hearted on the subject, but admire the pipes, just not the prices.)

 

[ashdigger]

I own quite a few Dunhill pipes, none newer than 1967, but I would never, never, ever buy a new Dunhill. I can get a Ryan Alden for roughly $350 that is BY FAR, heads and shoulders above a Dunhill.

 

[spartacus]

Same here. I was looking at a Dunhill in my birth year. I haven't found anything decent under $400. I think I would spend that money on tobacco and smoke it in a $150 pipe. Maybe I'm wrong and some of the pipe guys can tell me. Does a $400 Dunhill smoke better than a $150 Savinelli? I'm more about tobacco then pipes but I know some guys on here are into high end pipes.

 

[wyfbane]

I bought a couple of Foggy's Dunhills. They smoke as good as well as anything else. I am very pleased with them. I have never purchased a Dunhill new. Even at half price they are often more than pipes that smoke as well as they do. It is the classic shapes I like.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not gonna buy a new Dunny. Have a handful of estates, all just fine.

 

[sablebrush52]

At this stage, I'm almost done buying pipes. A have a bunch of Dunhills that I bought, or were gifted to me, early on. They're good pipes, but not head and shoulders above any other pipe that I've smoked. So, no, I would not be tempted.

 

[warren]

If I stumbled onto a new, old stock, Dunhill which attracted my eye, I'd buy it. A Dunhill White Spot? Maybe. A used Dunhill? As a rule, I wouldn't be interested in a used pipe unless it had some verifiable history which dovetailed with my specific areas of interest.

 

[danish]

Yes, with my preference for traditional shapes and comfy vulcanite stems, I would be very tempted to buy several discounted Dunhill pipes asap, before they closed production in England or started only offering acrylic stems, like most pipe factories did in Denmark, before they gave up.

 

[fishnbanjo]

My 3 favorite Dunhill pipes are a 1917 Dunhill Shell Group 1 I picked up at a yard sale for $1.00, it had many years of smoking behind it and it smokes very well. The second is a post WW II Dead Root Pot Group 3 made in 1948 and graded C-EE, it is a wonderful smoking pipe. The last is a newer pipe, presented to Sir Richard Dunhill, grandson of Alfred Dunhill and is a Group 2 Shell with the stainless steel tube which is removable. The others I own are good smokers but not on the level of the 3 I mentioned.

banjo

 

[Chasing Embers]

The two birth year Dunhills I have were both $150. Would never pay more than that for a factory pipe.

 

[saltedplug]

I have a 1950s patent Dunhill that smoked no better than any other pipe I owned, and of 200? pipes I smoked none smoked better than any other. A "good smoker" is the trite appellation offered by stooges who feel compelled to respond to the unending posts by those who must strut their pipe stuff. Lame and meaningless. However, I will own that certain smokers are possessed with a palate I never had and can pronounce with veracity on the smoking characteristics of their favored instruments.

 

[ashdigger]

Salted, has giving up the pipe made you lose your shit and become an angry troll?
I'm not trying to be a dick, but anytime you disagree with an opinion you slam down hard on how your opinion is either superior or the only opinion that matters.
You realize this is a forum, right?

 

[warren]

Salted sometimes tends to overstate and call names. He is right though in the sense that a "good smoker" is in the palate of the beholder and no other. When someone extols a brand over all others ... that is an opinion worth a grain of salt and nothing more. Tis the same when a person states every pipe produced or yet to be produced by a specific manufacturer is crap. Just one person's bias. Worth nothing really except for entertainment value to the forum.

 

[canucklehead]

 $150. Would never pay more than that for a factory pipe.

I would agree with this. I've seen quite a few nice custom made artisan pipes selling for $150-$300, I couldn't see myself paying any more than that for a mass produced pipe.

 

[Briar Baron]

At half price, not a great deal but a good deal (based on my recent new Dunhill churchwarden purchase (around $300), which was an OK deal but at half that price would have been a good deal).

 

[npod]

I believe the Dunhill brand name is in decline regarding the pipes and tobaccos arms of the name (of course the name was sold off long ago, but continues to reap profit based on tradition). In 10 years I suspect they will no longer be of value in the larger pipe community. It happens in every industry. So no, I do not think they are good investment per se. Sure they smoke well, but Dunhill as a status symbol is probably going the way of the dodo bird, thus even at 1/2 price they still probably wouldn't be a good buy.

 

[timt]

I bought an estate Dunhill that was in good shape for $200 - a birth year 1966 billiard. No regrets, it smokes nice, it has the classic shape I like and it was a box to check off in my pipe smoking world. Would I smoke a new Dunhill if someone gifted me one, thinking they were buying something really special? Heck yeah, I'll thank them and tell them it's an awesome pipe. And just to be contrary, I'll come onto the forum here and praise it to no end. :wink:

 

[saltedplug]

As I understand it, companies stop trying to make a business sustainable because they can make more money putting their business energy into a different business. I would counter with the idea that if a business makes what would be deemed the minimum profit or more, that's money that ought not be ignored, and that thus Dunhill/White Spot pipes should be continued. If BriarWorks/Savinelli/Brebbia/Rossi and the not deadly serious high-end makers can stay in business, The White Spot certainly can.

 

[mityahicks]

I would bite for $50-100, to hell with be status symbols of yor. Meanwhile, I'll spend the hard earned on artisan and reasonably priced factory pipes.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I bought an estate Dunhill that was in good shape for $200 - a birth year 1966 billiard. No regrets, it smokes nice, it has the classic shape I like and it was a box to check off in my pipe smoking world. Would I smoke a new Dunhill if someone gifted me one, thinking they were buying something really special? Heck yeah, I'll thank them and tell them it's an awesome pipe. And just to be contrary, I'll come onto the forum here and praise it to no end. :wink:

This post seems to check off all the boxes!! (OK on Dunhill; but no praise; OK to receive one; twitting the haters!) Well done! [Nudge, nudge, wink, wink]