Why are Dunhills so Expensive?

[Richard Burley]

Not sure for most of us they are a status symbol since it seems most of us smoke alone not sure who there is to impress.

:lol: You got that 100% right. Anyone who has seen my pipes always seems more askance than admiring. Perhaps at a pipe club or cigar lounge? I don't visit any, and probably never will.

 

[Puffer Mark]

I have 2 Dunhills. With apologies to the bard:

What's in a name? In the case of Dunhill, everything. Would not a well made pipe by any other name smoke as sweet? You bet.

 

[puros_bran]

Because people are willing to pay expensive price tags for them.

Reality is they aren't expensive, they are wood and plastic.. And not much of that.

 

[Zeno Marx]

The same reason Filson coats are expensive.  They may be going for snob appeal.  I doubt I'll ever own a Dunhill.  There was a time when I had a Charatan and it didn't impress me, Savinelli's are another story.

As an aside, nobody mills a wool like Filson. You might not like their fabric, styles, stigma, or product, but there is no other maker that makes the thickness and density of wool that goes into their cruisers and mackinaws. I've owned them all. LL Bean. White Stag. Pendleton. Black Bear. Woolrich. Orvis. Chippewa Mills. Hudson. The list goes on. Filson is the only one that makes anything like Filson. A lot of others look similar, but they aren't. (I don't work for Filson. Being a person who loves and owns a ton of wool, it's the facts). Now, whether you feel that uniqueness and proprietary quality is worth $400 is another story.

Why are Dunhills expensive? Branding. Marketing. Smart and fortunate business.

 

[hobie1dog]

I was never a fan of them because 90% of them are standard billiard shapes. Looks like every other pipe, just more expensive.

 

[Sasquatch]

In a very real sense, that's exactly WHY they are more expensive.

If you want me to make a flawless pipe in a certain shape, I may need 2,3.. 4 pieces of briar before I get it. And that's buying real good wood.

If you want a "pretty close" shape or a freehand where I can scrape a little deeper here, sand a little more there, I can do it in one go, every time.

The tolerances on those factory type shapes mean that once you have it cut, there's only so much room for error before the pipe gets real ugly. Dunhills are actually recognizably well-cut pipes almost always - you can pick them from a pile if you know much about how pipes are made. Other brands are lumpier, less well proportioned - the pipes look as though they are cobbled from parts, by and large because they are.

And if I'm coming across as a Dunhill fanboy here, please note that I'm not, really. I traded out a real expensive old Dunnie for a Castello, and didn't look back. But the pipes are what they are - they are very well cut and finished, and most pipes aren't in this day and age. Or maybe ever.

 

[puros_bran]

You aren't. I was going to give my spill about paying for the pipes they threw away and all good pipes costing the buyer the same amount, etc etc yada yada... But didn't figure anyone wanted to hear it again.

Pay $10 a pipe and go through 40 of them before finding a good one.
Pay $20 a pipe and go through 20 of them before finding a good one.
And so on and so forth, until
Pay $400 a pipe and get a good one. There's stil 39 bad pipes there, it's just QC threw them out so you wouldn't have to.

There's some short cuts, research, personally inspecting the pipes, etc etc but time equals money so even that cost. About the only fatal flaw in my figuring is cobs..


I have a lot of good enough pipes but only a few good pipes... I didn't even know the difference before I got a good one some years ago.

 

[Sasquatch]

Agreed. And time in the saddle as a user, getting to be pretty good at smoking a pipe, is probably required before someone is going to appreciate a real good pipe. But when you get there, good technique and a good pipe.... boy it's hard to go back.

 

[eklektos44]

Ok, here's where we part ways. I have two Dunhills, a 60' and 70's Tanshell. I had a 65 Shell that was lost in the move up here. They don't smoke any better than other pipes I own that cost considerably less, including my ugly Lugano. Lord save us from the tyranny of the experts.

 

[puros_bran]

All hail the corn cob snob lowest common denominator!!

 

[eklektos44]

All hail the corn cob snob lowest common denominator!!  

That's projection plain and simple. Unless you could make a serious existential argument in defense.

 

[puros_bran]

As is your nonsensical Tyranny of the Experts.. But it doesn't bother you to level that type nonsense does it?


If you want a Dunhill, buy a Dunhill.. If you don't quit looking for reasons not to. It's a simple equation.

If you can't appreciate a good pipe then save the money. Running a pipe cleaner down the stem will fix the difference.

 

[eklektos44]

As is your nonsensical Tyranny of the Experts.. But it doesn't bother you to level that type nonsense does it?  


If you want a Dunhill, buy a Dunhill.. If you don't quit looking for reasons not to.  It's a simple equation.  

If you can't appreciate a good pipe then save the money.  Running a pipe cleaner down the stem will fix the difference.

Wasn't what I was addressing. What I was addressing was the "smokes better, or good enough vs good" argument. If you like Dunhill, buy them. It's your money. But they don't smoke any better than a lot of other pipes that cost far less, that's just reality. If you like them because of aesthetics, you favor a particular brand, or because of any other reason fine. But 99% of it is whether the airway is drilled properly, is the tobacco moisture content right, and is the bowl packed properly. But better is strictly in the eye of the beholder.

 

[eklektos44]

Maybe part of it is that I prefer large pipes. And when you start talking group 5 or 6 Dunhill's you really are talking big bucks, particularly new.

 

[puros_bran]

At the end of the day all that matters is that you are satisfied with what you chose..
For some that's a bazillion dollar pipe rack, for others that's three half burned out cobs, for the rest of us it's some where in between.

I'm pretty sure you couldn't give a crap what I'm smoking and surprisingly I don't care what you are smoking (that's a generic you and I representative of each and everyone of us)  


Most of these topics are troll bait,flame wars, and intended as such.  

Where the rubber meets the road, if the Op wants to know why X pipe cost so much he/she (sorry I forgot who started this) needs to save up and buy one. When done just flip it on eBay and get something else to try.. As long as one buys estate and sells estate this is one of the few hobbies where that's a feasible thing to do because you will get your money back.. You'll lose some this time, make some that time, but in the end it'll all work out.   The only problem being, estates are estates for a reason.. No one sells his best pipe.

 

[eklektos44]

At the end of the day all that matters is that you are satisfied with what you chose..
For some that's a bazillion dollar pipe rack, for others that's three half burned out cobs, for the rest of us it's some where in between.

I'm pretty sure you couldn't give a crap what I'm smoking and surprisingly I don't care what you are smoking (that's a generic you and I representative of each and everyone of us)  


Most of these topics are troll bait,flame wars, and intended as such.  

Where the rubber meets the road, if the Op wants to know why X pipe cost so much he/she (sorry I forgot who started this) needs to save up and buy one. When done just flip it on eBay and get something else to try.. As long as one buys estate and sells estate this is one of the few hobbies where that's a feasible thing to do because you will get your money back.. You'll lose some this time, make some that time, but in the end it'll all work out.   The only problem being, estates are estates for a reason.. No one sells his best pipe.

Actually I'm curious about Stanwell's as I've never owned or smoked one. Pipe's not being one of the things you loan out to friends..

 

[puros_bran]

Old Stanwells were made of good wood, usually drilled right, in designs pleasing to my eye, and sprinkled with fairy dust or something...

I have no clue about current production or even if there is a current production. I collected registration era 'higher' end Stanwells. Higher end was still fairly economical and back then it seemed everyone smoked them but no one realized what they were worth. Pipes I sold 5-6 years ago for $40 are $140-200 pipes now.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Ok, here's where we part ways. I have two Dunhills, a 60' and 70's Tanshell. I had a 65 Shell that was lost in the move up here. They don't smoke any better than other pipes I own that cost considerably less, including my ugly Lugano. Lord save us from the tyranny of the experts.

Well, here ya go.  I'm not a Dunhill pipe fan (I do find a lot of their other products from the past to be interesting, fun, and sort of cool).  I only own a cripple that a Dunhill fan gave me.  That's the only one.  It's a junk pipe for hiking, yard, etc.  I have owned several in the past, and out of all the makers (and I've owned just about all of them at one point or another), they are the most consistently good smokers.  Not one that I've owned, including the cripple and a lousy filter version, has been less than a very good smoke.  I can't say that about any other maker, including my beloved Caminetto.  Dunhills have been consistently very good to great.  That alone makes them worth more than most of the others.  At least by my metrics.

 

[Sasquatch]

The beauty of this is that there isn't one set of metrics.

I have found a few really super smoking pipes, measurably better in terms of flavor, gurgle, ease of use, comfort.... and got rid of a Dunhill in the process.

I realize I could have 2 Savinellis for every Castello I buy. Or 40 cobs. Or whatever. Lovely thing is, it doesn't matter. If Eklektos gets the same experience from a 30 dollar basket pipe as a Dunhill, that's great. My basket pipes lie unused now because they taste like crap to me, and gurgle mercilessly because they are built poorly. I never, ever want to smoke them again. But that's just me, it's not a ton of other guys and I'm not saying anyone is doing something wrong.

All I'm saying is, once I got into pipes that I call "good pipes", pipes that smoked noticeably, measurably better for me, my enjoyment of smoking pipes increased. Is this the thing everyone must seek? Hell no.

 

[eklektos44]

The beauty of this is that there isn't one set of metrics.  

I have found a few really super smoking pipes, measurably better in terms of flavor, gurgle, ease of use, comfort.... and got rid of a Dunhill in the process.  

I realize I could have 2 Savinellis for every Castello I buy.  Or 40 cobs.   Or whatever.   Lovely thing is, it doesn't matter.  If Eklektos gets the same experience from a 30 dollar basket pipe as a Dunhill, that's great.   My basket pipes lie unused now because they taste like crap to me, and gurgle mercilessly because they are built poorly.  I never, ever want to smoke them again.  But that's just me, it's not a ton of other guys and I'm not saying anyone is doing something wrong.  

All I'm saying is, once I got into pipes that I call "good pipes", pipes that smoked noticeably, measurably better for me, my enjoyment of smoking pipes increased.  Is this the thing everyone must seek?  Hell no.  

I will say basket pipes ain't what they used to be. Granted, I haven't seen a lot lately, but what I have seen is pretty weak tea. My older Tinder Box Verona is a good pipe, but it was made by Mauro Armellini. I have no idea whose making them now but they seem to have thin walls, aren't drilled properly, and are very inferior.