Spotting Replacement Dunhill Stems (pre-1970)

[buroak]

I had Ed Shulte make me a stem for my ONLY Dunhill, a #656 Shellbriar that had a replacement stem already, but it had no dot. I sent the pipe to Ed and it cost me almost $80 including shipping etc. to get the new stem, which he sent to me along with the original replacement stem. Unfortunately, he had simply modified the mortise to accept his new 'Dunill Authorized' replacement, thus rendering the original replacement useless on this pipe. I'd only paid $47 bucks for the pipe to start with. Lessons learned.
The new authorized stem has no shoulder near the junction. It is however, nicely formed and decent quality.

When I was a fresh initiate to the hobby I had a similarly bad experience. Unfortunately, I paid for a hand cut stem that turned out worse, or at least no better, than a pre-molded one. On the bright side, the pipe is an army mount, so there is an easier path to redeeming the pipe.