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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
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Highly innovative, Alfred starts his new journey in 1907, exploring his other interests by opening a cigar and tobacco shop in London on Duke Street-31A. It would take three years for Dunhill to start his pipe manufacturing, in the meantime, commercialized third-party pipes (French and, lastly, Charatan). | Highly innovative, Alfred starts his new journey in 1907, exploring his other interests by opening a cigar and tobacco shop in London on Duke Street-31A. It would take three years for Dunhill to start his pipe manufacturing, in the meantime, commercialized third-party pipes (French and, lastly, Charatan). | ||
Alfred did not know much about the tobacco business, but was learning as he dealt with his clients. Of keen sensitivity, he soon realized that most of the pipes available in the market were of low quality and that he could commercialize better quality products at twice the price. In the early days Alfred faced some financial problems, like most traders at the beginning of their ventures. Your tobacco shop wasn't the only one in the area. There was strong competition, but short of the average quality expected by the public. Alfred explored this market deficiency and established a new standard of quality and service. | |||
At first, the focus was on the tobaccos. As he himself defined in his first catalog, published in 1910, called "About Smoke ", he was an expert in making blends, which he exhibited prominently in his entry window: "Tobacco specialist". Alfred Dunhill was a born merchant and when he opened his first tobacco shop, he knew exactly where he wanted to go. | At first, the focus was on the tobaccos. As he himself defined in his first catalog, published in 1910, called "About Smoke ", he was an expert in making blends, which he exhibited prominently in his entry window: "Tobacco specialist". Alfred Dunhill was a born merchant and when he opened his first tobacco shop, he knew exactly where he wanted to go. | ||
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"Each customer could come and create his own recipe, noted in a little book entitled “my mixture.” This is a prime example of Dunhill’s ability to tailor itself to the customer’s needs. Alfred Dunhill however, was unsatisfied with the current quality of available pipes. The pipes coming in from France were highly varnished and consequently clogged the pores of the briar. They were simply not doing justice to his creative blending." "Smokingpipes.com[http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/dunhill/history.cfm] | |||
[[File:Mmb.jpg|thumb|right| My Mixture Book]] | |||
[[File:Ef.png|thumb|right| Enquiry Form]] | |||
[[File:Admm.jpg|thumb|right| Alfred making a mixture]] | |||
According to Balfour in: "Alfred Dunhill One Hundred Years And More", initially the Tobaccos were obtained from George Dobie & Sons, a manufacturer of blends located in Paisley, west of the Midland Valley in Scotland and also of some cooperatives producing Tobacco. Creating blends is more than just mixing sheets in different proportions. There are techniques to develop a mixture, for example: cooking, roasting, pressing, mattering, etc. and can hardly be made at the shop counter. After five years, in 1912, his youngest brother, Herbert Edward Dunhill (1884-1950), joins the business. He was an insightful merchant and is soon ahead of the company's financial issues (a function he exercises until his death in 1950), allowing Alfred to give his creativity in the development of new products. | |||
Alfred was restless and wanted to always hone his products, taking him (in 1912) to leave the blends tailored in the background. It was when Alfred presented his own mixtures "in-house", they were: the "Royal Yacht" (Virginia), "Cuba" (Cigar Leaf) and "Durbar" (Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia). Products acclaimed up to the present day. | |||
<gallery mode="packed-hover" widths=180px heights=180px> | |||
File:Dry.jpg|© About Smoke - Alfred Dunhill Ltd | |||
File:Durbar2.jpg|© About Smoke - Alfred Dunhill Ltd | |||
File:Cuba.jpg|© About Smoke - Alfred Dunhill Ltd | |||
</gallery> | |||
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