English Estates: Dunhill Cumberland (52021) (1983) Tobacco Pipe

Dated to 1983, this "02" Billiard from Dunhill is presented in robust Group 5 size, offering plenty of substance for the fingers to embrace. The tall, muscular bowl rises at the fore of a steeply bent shank-and-stem arrangement, which provides balance to the overall composition and encourages a comfortable jaw-hanging posture. The bowl houses almost two inches of chamber depth within its thick insulating walls, ensuring plenty long, leisurely smoking sessions. The rustic Cumberland sandblast dresses the stummel and brings vivid defintion to the natural grain orientation of the briar, save for the rim, which is left smooth for a bit of tactile contrast.

When Alfred Dunhill released his patented Shell Briar, he forever changed the pipe-smoking world at large. Dunhill has often been credited with being the first to offer sandblasted pipes (arguably the most popular finish today), and the Cumberland finish further displayed Dunhill's innovative spirit. Well received after its release in 1979, the Cumberland series was named for the English marque's warehouse on Cumberland road, and the line's signature, brindled vulcanite stem became so iconic, the warmly striated material is now referred to simply as "cumberland."