Dunhill Additional Stamps/fr: Difference between revisions

<blockquote><q>From the 1920s through the 1960s a "C" was used in the shaped 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.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998). </blockquote>

Let's see some examples:

|<center>'''About the Little Square'''</center>  

'''Today'''

Another atypical marking, a small square.

<blockquote><q>We checked our stamp registers, the small square is not registered as a factory stamp. We can only assume that it is an after-factory stamp; possibly it was added by the point-of-sale, but we have no knowledge of this.</q> Hener, K. S., Product Line Director - The White Spot Smoker's Accessory Division and Walthamstow site.</blockquote>

'''Early days'''

<q>I have seen subscript square stops on DRs dating from the 1910s to 1922 stamped either before or after DUKE ST S.W. or LONDON. Other then the subscript stop noted with respect to a Root DR I have seen no such markings in connection with the root finish. However, I have seen a subscript square in 1931 and 1937 Shells following the shape/category stampings. Likewise, a square subscript stop has been found on a late '30s DR immediately following the "DRR" stamping (which is stamped where the "A" would normally be found on a Bruyere). I have found no information as to the rationale for these seemingly random circles, stops, and numbers, but since there is nothing else random about the Dunhill nomenclature I strongly suspect that these ancillary stamps, in fact, began as uptick work/quality/pricing codes.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).

On [http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/patent3.html Pipephil] we have this information: <q>The little squares are typical to older DR stampings. Their meaning is not established but may be related to pricing categories.</q> But Loring considered this in one of his articles:

<blockquote><q>Information not reported here strongly indicates that while stop stampings continued after the early 1930s for Root DRs and into the post-WWII period, both the placement of stops and grade system changed dramatically. In light of some inquiries and loose remarks on eBay, it should also be noted that while one often sees stop stampings with standard Bruyeres (i.e. non DRs) of the 1910s and 1920s before either an A or a circled (A) there is no indication from the catalogs that these stops were value indicators. Undoubtedly whether a standard Bruyere pipe during this period was stamped with a circled or uncircled A or followed by a stop was meaningful, but that meaning most probably related to production or distribution concerns as opposed to grading or value.</q> Loring, [[Grading the Pre World War II Dunhill Bruyere DR]].</blockquote>

|<center>'''About H.Wo / HT'''</center>  

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 the Carved Heads case, they were "OD " from pre-WWII.

<blockquote><q>"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.</q> Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998). </blockquote>

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

|<center>'''Unknown Stamps'''</center>  

There are additional stamps that are unknown even by the factory manager. Since there are no official records in the company's memos, perhaps they are unofficial extra stamps developed by authorized sellers for internal controls, to keep track of any pipe they sold that might ever be returned for some issue or by a collector to mark his pipes. Who knows? Without some kind of confirmation, it will remain a mystery.

Some sparse information suggests that these stamps have been added for repair control, such as stem replacement or structural repairs. But the production director refutes that hypothesis:

<blockquote><q>We did and still do often structural repairs like cracked stems and plug bowls (if possible) and those repairs are simply amazing. And no, we don't add any stamp. In case we are replacing a broken stem/shank we replicate the original stampings that were on the pipe before to keep it as original as possible.</q> Hener, K. S., Product Line Director - The White Spot Smoker's Accessory Division and Walthamstow site.</blockquote>

Next, we will see three examples that the manufacturer does not recognize:

<blockquote>"SECONDARY STAMPINGS. Secondary light randomly placed stampings have been found on some pipes dating from the late '40s to the mid-'50s. The stampings include for instance "-11", "811-" and "B52". The meaning of these stampings is not presently known but one can speculate from the light random placement nature of the stampings and the absence of the same from the factory stamping log that they are post-production marks related to distribution and marketing.</blockquote>

<blockquote>RESTAMPING. Occasionally, when a pipe was sent to Dunhill for repair, parts of the nomenclature that were worn were restamped. In addition Dunhill has on occasion restamped worn nomenclature on otherwise healthy pipes. This restamping can sometimes be spotted when the stamping tools used do not match the style of the original nomenclature. In addition, it can be suspected when there are signs of double (i.e. over) strikes. On the other hand, such double strikes may also occur at the time of production when the first strike was deemed too weak." Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote>

<blockquote><q>Over my 45 years of collecting Dunhill pipe - I have seen these odd markings. I am of the opinion that they are marks put on by dealers. For instance, I saw a DRR from the 1930s that had a small H sideways. I have seen small letters placed in odd places on the shanks. I spoke to Dunhill long before the current management was on board and they were of the opinion that they were ‘after markings’. All Dunhill nomenclature has a meaning - price, shape and date.</q> Richard Esserman - 2019.</blockquote>

|<center>'''6 for Saddle Mouthpiece'''</center>  

From the very early days and up until the early 1970s (possibly 1974. This was soon to be replaced by a more detailed formal 4- and 5-digit system around 1976), Dunhill used a '''6''' as a prefix to the shape code to indicate that the pipe was made with a saddle-bit stem.  For example, a Shape R indicates a pot-shaped bowl with a tapered stem, and a 6R would be the same bowl but with a saddle-bit stem, or 660, 639, and so forth.