Dunhill: Shell Briar with Silver (3122) (2023) Tobacco Pipe

Rustic and muscular, this Dunhill "22" Poker is a muscular and impressive rendition of a shape-chart standard, elevated by Dunhill's eye for detail. Featuring a respectable chamber and thick walls, the bowl of this Group 3 piece rises into a slightly forward-slanting cylinder as it sits atop a flattened heel. The shank pushes out from a slightly elevated transition to meet a sleekly tapering stem, the junction marked by a band of silver for rich contrast. Dressed in the crisp, inky sandblast of the Shell Briar series, this pipe showcases plenty of handsome grain, the palette nicely contrasted by the pipe's silver accent.

The Shell Briar's addition to the Dunhill catalog was a pivotal moment in pipe-smoking history. Before 1917, pipes with sandblasted finishes had never been made, and Alfred Dunhill's innovative mind created arguably the most popular finish for pipes today when he unveiled the Shell Briar. With its dark, reserved color palette and delightful texture, it's no surprise that it's still wildly popular over a century later.