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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
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<span style="font-size:small">'''Note:''' Mr. Richard Dunhill also mentions this change in an interview on Jack Webster's show, in 1984 [https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Video_Interview_with_Richard_Dunhill].</span> | <span style="font-size:small">'''Note:''' Mr. Richard Dunhill also mentions this change in an interview on Jack Webster's show, in 1984 [https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Video_Interview_with_Richard_Dunhill].</span> | ||
At the beginning of the 60th decade, the Italian government restricted the use of the Briar to Italian manufacturers and the Algerian briar became scarce (consequence of the Algerian War of Independence. 1954-1962), which forced Dunhill to turn to Grecian briar, as R. D. Fields said in [[The Art of Sandblasting]], "During the 1960s and ’70s Dunhill could not acquire the Algerian briar." Consequently, the company’s sandblast pipes were much shallower and less distinct. | At the beginning of the 60th decade, the Italian government restricted the use of the Briar to Italian manufacturers and the Algerian briar became scarce (consequence of the Algerian War of Independence. 1954-1962), which forced Dunhill to turn to Grecian briar, as R. D. Fields said in [[The Art of Sandblasting]], "During the 1960s and ’70s Dunhill could not acquire the Algerian briar." Consequently, the company’s sandblast pipes were much shallower and less distinct and, as R. D. Fields also related in another article, [[A Tail of Two Briars]] that the age of the briar used in the '60s was averaged between 60 and 100 years old and then changed drastically to a briar less aged, between 50 and 80 years. This factors contributed to the construction of this concept of loss of quality. But as Dr. Hanna argues in his article, "briar from certain regions has different physical qualities, but this does not seem to be related to taste and smoking potential." Mr Esserman, Loring and David Webb also mention this changes. | ||
<blockquote><q>Dunhill around 1970 could not get discrete wood for the various - Sardinian for Tanshells, Algerian for Shells - Dunhill had to move to what I was told wood from Greece which did not blast as deep. Dunhill for a brief period used a black understain on the Shells - Dunhill experimented using blanks instead of hand-cut bits. So in the early-mid 1970's - Dunhill's reputation suffered. But Dunhill rebounded around 1975 and 1978 was one of Dunhill's greatest years ever.</q> Richard Esserman.</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>Dunhill around 1970 could not get discrete wood for the various - Sardinian for Tanshells, Algerian for Shells - Dunhill had to move to what I was told wood from Greece which did not blast as deep. Dunhill for a brief period used a black understain on the Shells - Dunhill experimented using blanks instead of hand-cut bits. So in the early-mid 1970's - Dunhill's reputation suffered. But Dunhill rebounded around 1975 and 1978 was one of Dunhill's greatest years ever.</q> Richard Esserman.</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote><q>Since the early 1960's Algerian briar has been largely unavailable to Dunhill and much harder briar (primarily Grecian) has had to be used for the finish. As a consequence since the mid-1960s, the Shell finish is generally found with a significantly shallower blast.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>Since the early 1960's Algerian briar has been largely unavailable to Dunhill and much harder briar (primarily Grecian) has had to be used for the finish. As a consequence since the mid-1960s, the Shell finish is generally found with a significantly shallower blast.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote><q>According to David Webb, the Dunhill pipe did have a problem in the mid-1970's, not so much with quality as with the outward signs of quality. Those in charge of policy at the time decided that the "shell" must be totally black and shiny - a blue-black stain was used, eliminating any reddish highlights. At the same time, the "bruyere" finish was lightened from its original plum color. These two changes have dampened the pipe's reputation and may be the cause for some criticism I have heard; but, even with these pipes, the underlying quality is still there. Since that time, of course, there has been a return to the original "bruyere" finish, and the new "deep shell" has reached our shores in limited quantity.</q>R.D. Fields for Pipe Smoker in Fall 1983.</blockquote> | |||
Any definitive conclusion may be unfair. The metrics used in defining the concept of "quality loss" may be related to misperceptions of changes or purely subjective values. Even the process of oil curing, that was considered determinant in quality, it seems - in the end, it not so decisive, as we can see in another consideration of Dr Hanna: | Any definitive conclusion may be unfair. The metrics used in defining the concept of "quality loss" may be related to misperceptions of changes or purely subjective values. Even the process of oil curing, that was considered determinant in quality, it seems - in the end, it not so decisive, as we can see in another consideration of Dr Hanna: | ||