Very Expensive 1920 Dunhill Pipe on Ebay!

[condorlover1]

As usual I make the following disclaimers, I do not own this pipe and I am not the seller and this is provided to the community for information purposes. Your milage may vary. This message is made from recycled electrons. No electrons were harmed in the preparation of this post! Now that is out of the way I thought you might find this listing interesting. The guy is offering a new unused in the box 1920s Dunhill pipe with bidding over $600.00. Granted I have paid far more for rare plain meerschaum pipes but not on a regular basis and I smoke the damned things. It is worth having a look at this thing just so you can wonder if the world has gone insane! Have I missed something?

 

[amiller]

Link?

 

[condorlover1]

Just go to Ebay and search rare 1920 Dunhill

 

[ssjones]

I'll be shocked if it stays under $1,000 and I'd say it is a bargain at $610. From your comments, I'm not sure if you surprised because the bidding is so low or high? Unsmoked 94 year old pipes, particularly Dunhills don't come along very often. I think Dunhill collectors will be climbing all over themselves for a shot at this one. If the seller were an established pipe reseller, they would do much better.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-BOXED-circa1920-vintage-UNSMOKED-Dunhill-London-pipe-Inner-tube-5861-12-/390835049690?pt=UK_Collectables_Tobacciana_Smoking_LE&hash=item5aff9594da

 

[beefeater33]

SSJONEs-- I agree with you, this is a true rarity. I have this in my watch list just for curiosity's sake. I'm no Dunhill expert, but that is one rare pipe! The "C" designation has me puzzled-- at one time I thought it stood for "complimentary". Methinks this may have been given to someone, probably some dignitary or his wife- It's a small, feminine pipe, but boy oh boy, its a dandy!! I'm thinking this one will fetch closer to the $2000 mark--just my guess.

 

[pitchfork]

I don't know my Dunhill nomenclature, but if that pipe is genuine there's no way it goes for less than $1,500.

 

[sablebrush52]

Very interesting pipe! One picture, the 2nd to the last, gives me doubts about its "unsmoked" status as the bit of the chamber wall visible looks to me like it is covered in tobacco residue. There really isn't a single decent picture of the chamber. There's also some wear to the rim. The seller says that he is not an expert. Might be legit, might not. If it's the real McCoy, Al's valuation would be in pretty spot on.

 

[misterlowercase]

I think I read somewhere that Loring said the "C" usually means churchwarden?
I dunno.
That's a nice little pipe!
I really dig the vented case.

 

[latbomber]

It looks to me like it might be small enough to be one of the "tweenact" pipes seen in the 1927 catalog. I've never witnessed one of those for sale before.

 

[condorlover1]

I was referring to the price as of last night in that $600 was very reasonable if it had not been smoked.

 

[sfsteves]

I'd love to own that pipe, but the price precludes any possibility that I could hope to do so ...

 

[condorlover1]

Sablebrush52 just got me thinking. I think it has been smoked if you look at the pictures of the bowl you can see some flame discoloration to the rim as well as some residue. It will be interesting to see what it gets knocked down for in the end. I picked up a rather nice meerschaum 'cutty' with amber stem that was not ruined by broken threads for thirty quid. Looks like I will knock down two more tomorrow which are also in OK condition. I am no Dunhill expert other than owning a couple in the 1980s and then trading them for something that alludes my memory right now!

 

[ssjones]

I'm definitely no Dunhill expert, if it is a fake, all bets are off! It will be curious to see where it ends. Even smoked, with the right seller, that should be a $1000 pipe or close to it (providing the provenance is authentic).

 

[condorlover1]

@ssjones my memory is getting bad but there is/was a chap that dealt exclusively in vintage Dunhill pipes and accessories who had a website and a Ebay store and my friend Andre purchase a couple of things from him the other year. I seem to remember the pipes rolled out of the box at about $1500 odd dollars. He had a wonderful selection of tobacco jars from the 1930s that I was always tempted to buy one but then realized that it would not last a month in my office!

 

[ssjones]

Gotcha, I love those old jars and saw one in NY (Nightcap) a few days ago.

 

[condorlover1]

For the life of me I cannot remember his name. I just called my friend and he cannot remember the name of the shop either. Funny old world really!

 

[beefeater33]

Looks like it fetched $1529! WOW!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390835049690?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[condorlover1]

Well thats what Sam thought it would go for - I hope to heaven it real!

 

[sablebrush52]

As long as the buyer is happy, it's an all around happy event. I'm just not convinced about the unsmokedness of that pipe based on the pictures and the condition of the rim.
My personal take: Barnum was right.
But then again, I paid a pretty sum for my unsmoked Barling set, and it's worth it to me.

 

[andrew]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dunhill-The-White-Spot-Tobacco-Pipe-barely-used-Chestnut-5201-England-made-WOW-/161295313604?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258df32ac4
It pays to watch sales, well not literally, but this one was 51$ when I saw it and went for 200$. If I were after a Dunhill it's not that hard to get them for a reasonable price.