Dunhill: Shell Briar Zodiac 'Year of the Snake 2025' (4135) (387/529) Tobacco Pipe

The Chinese Zodiac calendar follows a 12-year cycle, each year represented by a specific animal. According to one legend, the order of the animals corresponds to an ancient race organized by the Jade Emperor, with the animals' places marking the order of the calendar. The sixth animal to finish was the Snake, and 2025 is celebrated as the Year of the Snake. For years, Dunhill has honored this Chinese tradition with a singular pipe shape, fashioned in limited quantities and decorated with a silver band depicting the year's animal.

For 2025, The White Spot's Zodiac pipe is one the English marque's most iconic shapes: the "35," presented in this series in Group 4 size. The "35" is a bent Dublin-like Zulu, complete with an active outline, a flared bowl, and sinuous shank-and-stem arrangement. Although serialized out of 529, only 350 pipes were actually fashioned in the Shell Briar finish: All numbers containing "4" were omitted according to Chinese numerology, and the number one remains in The White Spot's archive, with this particular example stamped as number 387. Moreover, this piece comes complete with a series-exclusive leather pouch embossed with an image of a snake to match the pipe's snake-etched accent of sterling silver.