Alfred Dunhill
Shell Briar 845 EX16 S
England14 / 15 16(1976)
ODA
Large Canadian
Series
Briar
EboniteFish-tailWide-bore
4,7mm
None
Estate / smoked
EXA randomly placed „EX“ occasionally found on either the reverse shank side of smooth finished pipes or on the bottom of Shell shanks signifies that the pipe was given in exchange pursuant to Dunhill´s one year guarantee. One might speculate that this stamping began with the formal commencement of the guarantee policy in 1921 but Dunhill had informally exchanged pipes for some time preceding, probably since inception, and it is well possible that that the EX stamping arose during that earlier period.
In 1943 the year of exchange was also added to the stamp, e.g. “EX.43”. The reason for this stamp refinement is unknown but it must have reflected a very real problem given the difficulty during the war period to tool new stamps. On suspects that the stamping change has something to do with war time England being engulfed with young American servicemen seemingly bent on putting Dunhill´s guaranty policy to the test. Consider how many new Dunhill pipes in those war years must have been broken in over the Continent in drafty B17s and the like.
pipe details approx.
A
3,9 cm
1.54 inch
B
5,4 cm
2.13 inch
C
17,0 cm
6.69 inch
D
2,1 cm
0.83 inch
E
5,1 cm
2.01 inch
Weight
49 gramm
49 gram
