Dunhill Additional Stamps

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Nomenclatures

Damaged

Prior to 1922 Dunhill marketed some 'seconds' or as termed by the company "faIlings" under the Dunhill brand name. Final examination in the Dunhill production process came after stamping and finishing and it appears from one example seen that pipes failing that examination were stamped with a large distinctive "X" over the DUNHILL stamping and then sold in the shop at a discount. From another example seen it appears that pipes 'dinged' at the Duke Street shop or otherwise selected for price reduction were stamped "DAMAGED PRICE [followed by the reduced price]" on an otherwise empty unstamped area of the pipe, i.e. the bottom of the shank on a Bruyere. In fact the very pipe that is often considered the first Dunhill ultimately became a 'second'. This was the 'windshield' pipe that Alfred Dunhill had manufactured in 1905. When that pipe proved less then a success Dunhill had the distinctive 'windshield' cut off and sold the recut pieces at a discounted price.

Up to 1920 Dunhill had it's bowls cut for it in St. Claude France. The grading after the bowl turning process is where many a flaw is spotted and as long as the bowl turning was done in St. Claude Dunhill was able to leave the 'failings' behind and had only to deal with those flawed pieces that cropped up in the oil treatment, carving, and finishing process. Thus while as late as 1919 Dunhill considered introducing a 'seconds' line that would have been called the Red Spot pipe, the 'failings' were not significant enough to warrant such a course. However, when Dunhill began turning it's own bowls in 1920 with the consequent substantial 'failings' it had little choice but to form, as it did Alfred Dunhill did not believe in waste and similar to the above, during it's first decade Dunhill also offered a reduced price, ever-changing My Mixture blend #75 which consisted of all the left over tobacco from custom blending mixed together. in 1922, the Parker Pipe Company to finish and market those 'failings'.· It appears that with the formation of Parker Dunhill ended the marketing of any seconds, as such, bearing the Dunhill brand.
Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).



About the C

Here we have many variables, we need to observe the whole scenario, because it depends on where it is graphed. For example, the "C" can indicate the model, in this case, a "Churchwarden" - if it is aligned with the pipe style. It also can be the "C" for classification of the series "OD" or the series "D.R". It can be a courtesy used in cases of replacements covered by the warranty period or complimentary, used as retirement gifts (were over-stamped "not for sale" in addition to the letter). In other cases, because it was a courtesy, they were not dated not to delimit the warranty period. There is also, the "C" of "Greetings" (with compliments) destined to British royalty.

From the 1920's through the 1960's a "C" was usedin the shape stamping preceding the shape number to signify a churchwarden. Pipes of that period with churchwarden stems but no "C" in the shape nomenclature can be suspected of having a churchwarden bit later fitted to a pipe not initially intended to be a churchwarden. Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).

Let's see some examples:




About the Little Square

Another atypical marking, a small square that denotes that the pipe was manufactured on demand, with details and proportions defined by the customer. At the beginning of the 20s there was a marking with that same purpose, which was recycled years later in the post-war, was the "O.D", that means "Own Design", which turned into "Oversized Dunhill" decades later, during the WWII. Let's see example:

pic by ©Nate Allen




About H.Wo / HT

From the beginning of the 20s (perhaps 1923, when - according to some, Dunhill began to fully fabricate its pieces) by the end of the 30s, some pipes were completely manufactured, i.e, without any kind of automation. These pieces received the following marking on the shank: "H.Wo", referring to Hand Worked. The Carved Heads and D.Rs, which were also hand-crafted, however, were within another classification and did not receive this marking. In Carved Heads case, they were "OD " from pre-WWII.

"H.W" was another pre-war stamping and meant 'Hand Worked'. This stamp was used, sometimes in conjunction with subscript square stops, to identify hand carved versions of standard, machine carved, shapes. An "HW" stamping was not necessarily indicative of higher pricing. Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).


©About Smoke - Dunhill


  • Note: HT(Hand-Turned) is currently used instead of H.Wo, but the concept is the same.



Contributed by Yang Forcióri Yang (talk) 07:29, 17 October 2019 (CDT)