Dunhill: Ruby Bark (3112) (2024) Tobacco Pipe

A Group 3 sized "12" Billiard, this Dunhill pipe features the depth of a Stack design. Indeed, the English marque's "12" can apply to either shape. It boasts plenty of chamber and is a sturdy Sitter, thanks to a flattened underside. The statuesque bowl is poised pertly at the end of a seamless, straight-as-an-arrow stretch of shank and stem, the low transition accentuating the bowl's height nicely. Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect, though, is the shape's dress: the Ruby Bark's ruby-hued sandblast and flashy silver accent.

Dunhill's Ruby Bark finish is one that's gone through a fairly extensive evolution since its inception in 1972. It began as the Redbark and has always remained a red-stained sandblast, but the color was brightened a few years after its introduction before Dunhill returned to the original, darker hue in 1976. Eventually, though, the Redbark was discontinued in 1987. After a hiatus of several decades, the same ruby-stained sandblast was reimagined in the form of today's Ruby Bark finish, adding to the rich, crisp aesthetic accents of sterling silver for a colorful presentation that still retains a high level of formality.