GWD
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,642
- Location
- Evergreen, Co
I was visiting the local tobacco shop to pick up a pipe/tobacco pouch for my golf bag when I spied a nice looking Dunhill pipe in the estate section.
I asked to have a look at it and it appeared not to have been smoked too much and had a very nice grain to it. They were asking $200.00 for it but after some light negotiation we agreed on $175.00, so basically I got the pouch for free!
The guy at the counter was looking it over pretty closely and based on the nomenclature he determined the pipe was made in 1975. Not knowing anything about Dunhill or Pipes for that matter said great and went on my way.
I got it home and went online to see if I could find some similar pipes to see if I paid a decent price, when I discovered something that raised a red flag. My pipe has an aluminum insert in the shank which I was to learn is called the "Vernon Tenon" the Vernon Tenon or "Vernon Fitment" was invented by Vernon Dunhill, Alfred's Brother to facilitate removal of the bit while the pipe was still warm. This little gadget wasn't very popular and was discontinued in 1940!
This piqued my interest so posted questions and pictures on a Pipe Smoking Forum and everyone still came up with the 1975 date, until I emailed a gentleman named David Neeb, he is a pipe maker and also sells estate pipes on his website. David has a very similar pipe for sale on his site that dates to 1932 so I sent photos to him and he confirmed, based on the "Vernon Tenon" and the configuration of the name "Dunhill" with "London" underneath it and the size of the number 15 next to "ENGLAND" that my pipe was made in 1935! This raises the value of my pipe a bit so I'm very happy with the purchase!
I asked to have a look at it and it appeared not to have been smoked too much and had a very nice grain to it. They were asking $200.00 for it but after some light negotiation we agreed on $175.00, so basically I got the pouch for free!
The guy at the counter was looking it over pretty closely and based on the nomenclature he determined the pipe was made in 1975. Not knowing anything about Dunhill or Pipes for that matter said great and went on my way.
I got it home and went online to see if I could find some similar pipes to see if I paid a decent price, when I discovered something that raised a red flag. My pipe has an aluminum insert in the shank which I was to learn is called the "Vernon Tenon" the Vernon Tenon or "Vernon Fitment" was invented by Vernon Dunhill, Alfred's Brother to facilitate removal of the bit while the pipe was still warm. This little gadget wasn't very popular and was discontinued in 1940!
This piqued my interest so posted questions and pictures on a Pipe Smoking Forum and everyone still came up with the 1975 date, until I emailed a gentleman named David Neeb, he is a pipe maker and also sells estate pipes on his website. David has a very similar pipe for sale on his site that dates to 1932 so I sent photos to him and he confirmed, based on the "Vernon Tenon" and the configuration of the name "Dunhill" with "London" underneath it and the size of the number 15 next to "ENGLAND" that my pipe was made in 1935! This raises the value of my pipe a bit so I'm very happy with the purchase!
