Stato: INGHILTERRA
Produzione: Industriale

HISTORY

When Alfred Dunhill opened his little St. James store on Duke Street in July 1907, he knew little about the tobacco trade. Surprising as this may seem, this was the primary cause of his success. Certainly his originality as a tobacconist played a role in his history, but first of all he had to learn to become one. He had to study his customers, their tastes, the kind of products they wanted but couldn't find. Only in this way was he able to put his inventiveness and his artisan talent to good use.

Alfred Dunhill

A year later, Alfred Dunhill wrote this maxim: many businesses can be ruined by entrepreneurs' presumption of knowing their trade too well. A principle that he learned in other commercial initiatives, long before entering the world of tobacco. One factor more than any other helped the Duke Street shop to establish itself in the beginning. It was the early years of the century, when magnificent horse-drawn carriages still competed with the glamorous new motor carriages in Piccadilly. Here and there, however, neither one nor the other certainly went unnoticed, because most still moved on foot. They toddled about their business and strolled for pleasure. Thus, on their way to the clubs of St. James, they had the opportunity to frequent the elegant commercial world of Bond Street. Now, a new and well-organized tobacco shop on Duke Street could certainly have attracted their attention. And so it was.

Richard Dunhill, Mary Dunhill, Bollito Giovanni

We must also remember that smoking, among the best of society, was a practice confined to the clubs and smoking rooms of Edwardian England. And women were excluded. There were no cigarette sellers on the street corners. Pipe tobacco was very cheap, and so were most cigarettes. One shilling could buy five smokable cigars and, for little more, a decent briar pipe. and it was in the mediocrity of the service offered by the average tobacconist that Alfred Dunhill saw his opportunity. Victorian taboos on smoking were falling. Under careful guidance and with the support of the best products, he believed that people could be encouraged to find an interest in smoking equal to that found in drinking and eating. And he was right. The intelligence officers, with their canes, gray hats and amber cigarette holders, were among the first to be attracted to the shop for its fascinating wares: there was an air of luxury and craftsmanship in every corner. Two guineas could buy a box of one hundred Havana cigars.
Everyone was enchanted by observing the owner of the new shop, in his velvet jacket, while he mixed large varieties of chopped meats. Out of curiosity, the ladies were also drawn to Duke Street. Although few were real smokers at that time, some were fascinated by the telescopic cigarette holder attached to a chain and held by a woman's hand, which was on display in the shop window. He was in fact exposed for this purpose. Novelties of this kind stimulated the ladies' curiosity, and his brilliant mind allowed Alfred Dunhill to always come up with new ideas in this regard.

The Dunhill store

If he decided to move forward with an idea, his attention to detail and his love of handcrafting would certainly make it successful. Nothing less than the best was the observation he had for craftsmanship of all kinds. Every item he sold had to be made perfectly, regardless of its expense, and its ultimate price depended simply on the cost of production.

Richard Dunhill

So when the first Dunhill pipe appeared on the market in 1910, seasoning and other devices that were new in pipe manufacturing and which were soon patented were experimented with. Instead of the cheap Algerian briar from which pipes were made at the time, each Dunhill was flawless and made of top quality wood, complete with a handmade vulcanite mouthpiece. Its price – seven shillings and sixpence, double that of other briar pipes – left everyone a little puzzled. Skeptics wondered whether he would pay that much for a pipe. But the Dunhill was already the pipe that many smokers proudly showed to their friends. Soon the fashion broke out in the Guards Brigade. And during World War I, when the pipe was tolerated only by those who smoked Turkish cigars or cigarettes, thousands of Dunhill pipes were shipped to France. By the end of the War, the pipe had carried the Dunhill name a long way. Dunhill lighters began another success story in 1924. Compared to the many types of crude and inaccurate petrol lighters that were in use in the trenches, the Dunhill's reliability depended on the simplicity and care with which it was made. The horizontal wheel flint, which could be changed with one hand, was the crux of his patent. Countless others tried to imitate his model, but none matched the incomparable precision of the “Unique,” ​​as he was called. Then the operation of this prototype was used in various shapes, types and styles of Dunhill lighters, including the butane gas ones that Dunhill himself pioneered some thirty years later. Alfred Dunhill retired in 1928; his company was a public company for five years and branched out into other branches in London, New York, Toronto and Paris. Through a dense network of agents, Dunhill products were also made available on the markets of many other countries. And all this without any particular advertising measures.

The Dunhill Store (Showcase)

For more than seventy years the Group has continued to develop as an international organization in the fields of pipe manufacturing, tobacco blending and marketing of high-quality products for smokers. Dunhill has long included new luxury products among its items, such as cabinet making, clothing, watches, jewelry, and desk objects. Products of this kind, mainly for men and particularly suitable as gifts, were first made available in shops in Paris, in the 1920s, and then also in London and New York, keeping the Dunhill name at the top of luxury men's objects. In addition to the national operations relating to the production and sale of its main products, the Group has major subsidiary companies in the USA, Europe and the Far East, each of which coordinates the activities of various stores in its major cities. Under the direction and supervision of Dunhill staff, these stores maintained the international image of the Group, presenting and selling its products in ways suited to the character of their geographical location. Indeed, one of the most appreciated aspects is that of the Dunhill men on site, who speak the language of the country where they operate, know the local market and whose training is based on first London and then international experience. All this allows the Company to always be updated on changing tastes in the various international markets. The family nature of Dunhill is highlighted by the fact that ten of Alfred Dunhill's close relatives have held senior positions in the firm: a son, a daughter and a grandson have subsequently occupied the General Manager's desk. The current one is the nephew of Richard of whom, according to the best English tradition we report a maxim: the world is full of people who appreciate refined craftsmanship more for the pleasure and satisfaction of owning it, than for its usefulness. In 1976, the Group purchased Charatan and since then Lane Ltd - a New York company that operates in the manufacturing of tobacco - has taken care of its distribution in the USA. In the following years, an operation began which ended with the purchase of the majority shareholding in Montblanc. Hence the beginning of the climb in the pen field.

From Amici della pipa article by Gianmassimo Zuccari.

THE DUNHILL PIPES

Alfred Dunhill began producing briar pipes in 1910. The famous "White spot" first appeared on the handmade vulcanite mouthpiece in 1915 so the customer could know which side was facing up. high.
At about the same time, each pipe bowl came with a one-year warranty against defects; and to ensure that much older Dunhill pipes were not exchanged under this warranty, a simple numerical code representing the year of manufacture was invented and engraved on the bowl of each pipe. This code is still in use, currently.
In the following years, great interest grew in the "mystique" of the Dunhill pipe in general and the numerical code in particular. Pipe collectors, especially in America, pride themselves on having purchased Dunhill pipes in the original condition in which they were made in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s. Some collectors make every effort to purchase only those Dunhill pipes produced between 1920 - when, Dunhill stopped buying turned heads in France in favor of those turned in London in the recently opened specialized workshop - and 1928, the year of Alfred Dunhill's retirement.
Logically, a lot of confusion has arisen about the numeric code due to the fact that it has not been standardized.
over the years, and seemingly small differences in the code can mean a difference of years, even ten, in the manufacture of the pipe.

To this we must add the fact that the company used a large number of different hallmarks depending on the part of the globe for which its pipes were intended, and that sometimes these hallmarks or codes were used for a duration of only three or four months. Leading to even greater confusion is the fact that many pipes were simply branded incorrectly; Sometimes it happens that one part or another of the code does not appear on a particular pipe.

Taking this into account, it should be no surprise that the complete, original list of codes, in the possession of the archivist of the firm at 30 Duke Street, is something like twenty-eight pages long. And even if this list were available it would be of little use to even the most expert, because it can only be used if associated with a precise knowledge of the Dunhill pipe as it has changed in appearance over the years.

THE MARKINGS