English Estates: Dunhill Root Briar (51031) (1978) Tobacco Pipe

For a number of years, Dunhill utilized a five-digit shape designation system. Similar to its current, four-digit stamps, the third and fourth numbers defined the shape, in this case the "03" Billiard, and the fifth digit represented a specific version of that shape, though the details are unclear decades later. This "1" version of the "03" from 1978 is a substantial, Group 5 offering, boasting muscular proportions and crisp line work. As a Root Briar, it represents one of The White Spot's finest pieces.

The highest honor for a Dunhill pipe is to receive the prestigious Root Briar appellation. Root Briars have been coveted by pipe smokers ever since they first debuted in 1931, due to the fact that each pipe must boast briar completely free of even the most minor of blemishes. Dunhill has the strictest of standards and expectations for quality with all of their pipes, and so any block of briar that comes to bear the Root Briar stamp must indeed be superlative.