The Dunhill-like Pipes Of Roland From Japan

[misterlowercase]

...somehow bounced into this previously unknown-to-me pipe brand.
What was impressed in me was just how blatant they were with trying to copycat some key Dunhill elements.
Trademarks are important because the brand owner puts forth much work to achieve recognition and reputation,

not to mention the money invested in marketing and promotion.
Then someone comes along and tries to steal the thunder by being a look-a-like,

riding on the coattails of anothers work as it were.
I can understand why Alfred Dunhill was so litigious,

he had developed his brand to a pinnacle, gaining the complete trust and faith of his patrons,

and that kind of respect doesn't come easy.
All that said,

Roland seems to push the limit as far as they can without actually infringing,

and they're wise enough to forget about a white dot, they did do the circled group numbers though - ① ② ③ ④ -,

and I actually kinda like their "Super Old Briar" moniker...
...and they have evolved from the copycat tendency (they're still in business, supposedly they were founded 1930)

and put out some stuff which seems their own.
For example,

SmokingPipes once sold a very nice specimen:

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/japan/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=146117
Anyway,

here's a few images of Roland:

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

I've learned more in the last 15 minutes from you @misterlowercase than I did at college. Thanks for your continued good posts. I'd never heard of Roland until now. Thanks for sharing.

 

[misterlowercase]

I've learned more in the last 15 minutes from you @misterlowercase than I did at college. Thanks for your continued good posts. I'd never heard of Roland until now. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words.
I had never heard of Roland either and I was interested because they seemed to emulate the Dunhill brand markers in many ways,

Dunhill is very big in Japan so I guess it makes Roland's job easier if the potential customer equates them into a loosely interpreted superficial association with being similar to Dunhill somehow.
The search term:
ローランド パイプ
means Roland smoking pipe and will give more images if you do an image search,

it can be bewildering, but I love getting lost in another world!

::

 

[bpftc]

Really interesting. This is the first I had heard of them. How is their quality compared to a Dunhill? Are they good smokers?

 

[misterlowercase]

How is their quality compared to a Dunhill?

From what I've "read" (googtrans), they are inexpensive beginner's pipes in many cases,

various bloggers mentioned lacquer as well.
One of my favorite Japanese pipe bloggers, MoriTakaKiyoshi of the Hex Blog, has a short write up,

here:

http://the-hex.blog.jp/archives/cat_10114024.html

...and he would know because he's an avid collector,

check the list of names in the rightside column!
His instagram page is also of interest as he posts some very neat pix:

https://www.instagram.com/moritakakiyoshi/
Fukashiro Ltd. is the distributor of Dunhill and Stanwell in Japan,

Roland is their "house brand" -- I'm unsure if this has always been the case or if perhaps there was a change of brand ownership at some point?
Roland has dropped the copycat dunhillian font though and now use their own design,

see here for a few pix from their recent series:

http://www.hamaki.net/blog/?p=13473
::

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have seen them listed as Japanese, and German under Roland Schwarz.
https://www.smokershaven.com/roland-estate-pipe-volcano-unsmoked/

 

[papipeguy]

I have a Japanese copy of a Gibson Les Paul. The guitars were so close to the Gibson's that Univox, the maker, was sued by Gibson. The guitars became known as "law suit guitars". They are very collectible now. I would guess that the same applies to the pipes. Great stuff, Troy.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Maybe we should all get a Roland and see what they're like? Might be an interesting investigation. Plus it would give me an excuse to buy another pipe.

::

 

[misterlowercase]

I have a Japanese copy of a Gibson Les Paul. The guitars were so close to the Gibson's that Univox, the maker, was sued by Gibson. The guitars became known as "law suit guitars". They are very collectible now. I would guess that the same applies to the pipes. Great stuff, Troy.

Thanks for that John - I'm a musiclover yet a nonmusician, but I had to do a quick look regardless,

landed onna forum which greatly remined me of our pipe/tobacco talk here! 8)

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-42/1323078-

Maybe we should all get a Roland and see what they're like? Might be an interesting investigation. Plus it would give me an excuse to buy another pipe.

I've long wanted to buy a pipe from one of the Japanese webshops as they get in some spectacular stuff,

but the prices are usually very high and the language barrier makes things even more difficult!
If I got a Roland it'd be an earlier example, an estate like the one in the first picture back when they were in full Dunhillian mode.
That means I'd hafta figure out how to use Yahoo! Auctions Japan which may be a hurdle,

but I'm easily distracted and would lose focus for Roland and get my snuff up about many of the rare birds floating around over there,

like for instance,

this Becker with an "olde bit"...

http://page22.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/l339817632

...drool.

Yowza!

That is a fine pipe!

::

 

[Chasing Embers]

Wow! Would love to add something like that to the herd!

 

[misterlowercase]

The Becker Olde-Bit is an interesting design,

most that I have actually seen have been circa 2005.
Here's a better and more comprehensive view with nice pix:

http://shuzed.blog104.fc2.com/blog-entry-79.html
I once had an oppo to get a similar Becker, one of his "honeydripper" shapes,

but at the time I couldn't see the inherent beauty, and the $ cost had me trembling,

now I totally regret not getting it!
The cost of Becker pipes has risen to even greater heights now,

and I still tremble. :|
::

 

[gloucesterman]

That Rhodie is a GBD 9438 clone. At first glance I wouldn't have know the difference. Knock-offs are a specialty of Asian Markets and they seem to know exactly how close they can go without risking infringement litigation. In their "Black Market" they don't even make an attempt to. Ask Rolex!

 

[mso489]

Rolands look like good pipes, traditional shapes well produced. But I must say they don't have that snappy understatement and cool reserve that Dunhill's have, so they aren't knock-offs in the sense of high-end women's handbags sold behind plywood false storefronts in New York's Chinatown. If I saw someone smoking one of these Rolands at a pipe show, there is no way I would think they were puffing on a Dunhill of any era, given that I'm not a Dunhill owner.

 

[mig19]

Papipeguy beat me to the punch! I've lived in Japan for the last 16 years, and play guitar and mandolin. I've amassed a small collection of Japanese Tokai guitars, which are the lawsuit era guitars and are good guitars in all aspects of quality and craftsmanship. I have a Fender Stratocaster copy, even the Tokai script on the headstock looks like the Fender spaghetti script logo, and it's an awesome guitar from the late 70s. I have a newer ES-335 copy in cherry red that's just awesome. I have a couple of the Tokai Les Paul copies, which are beautiful. One is a 78 cherry burst Les Paul, and the other is a newer gold top that they now call Love Rock instead of Les Paul to avoid the law suits. The Chinese are making Tokai copies now, which is ironic that they are making copies of copies and Tokai is getting a taste of their own medicine. Add to the confusion, Tokai themselves now have a factory in China as well as Japan, so if you get a Chinese one, you need to be careful to ensure its the real thing. Wait, this is a pipe forum, right? I'll be on the lookout now for Roland pipes!

 

[dmcmtk]

This seems to be the Japanese Roland, from pipedia,

Roland - Inexpensive brand by Fukashiro Tsutomu

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu
And this the German Roland,

Roland-Briars

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Roland-Briars
If there is any connection...?

 

[ssjones]

Fascinating. It's surprising that they flew under Dunhills legal department radar.
There is a German carver, Roland Schwarz. There doesn't appear to be a connection.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Roland-Briars

 

[shutterbugg]

I see a lot of pipes these days from China and Ukraine. Those have been purely cigarette territory forever, so I'll pass on pipes made there. The same is true of Japan, never was much of a pipesmoking country. UK, Western Europe, USA in that order. Plenty of pipes made there, no need to look further except out of curiosity.

 

[mso489]

I think Japan has a highly developed pipe culture, both buying European classics and producing high quality factory pipes and extremely high quality artisanal pipes. Like every other profession, Japanese carvers seem to go through an long and elaborate apprenticeship and perform at a highly advanced level. In Asia, they are the pipe makers.

 

[misterlowercase]

Great conversation here guys,

thanks for further developing the lines of discussion,

all good stuff.
Currently there's an interesting example up on the 'bay,

an unsmoked Roland which is a dead ringer for a Dunhill Duke...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222057957778?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
...although the bowl appears to be cherrywood or something,

it sure doesn't look like briar to me.
It'll probably go for cheap peanuts.
For more on the Dunhill Duke,

see here:

http://www.folloder.com/duke/duke.htm
::

 

[tuold]

Fascinating topic. If you can't stand on the shoulders of a giant you an at least step on their toes!
I spent five years living in Japan back in the late 70s and never once saw anyone smoking a pipe. When I brought mine out it was always an object of curiosity. Things have changed a lot there since those days.