Postwar Dunhill ODA / 800 Series

The postwar ODA / 800 series is the name given to the group of large-bowl pipes Dunhill released after the Second World War. Pipes in the series carry the abbreviation OD plus an added grade letter on the shank, with an 800-series shape number directly beneath it. Because ODA is the stamping most commonly encountered, the community refers to the whole group in short as "the ODAs" or "the 800 series."

Origins of the Series

The new, large-bodied shapes were introduced in 1950; over the following two years distribution is said to have widened and the series to have become regularly available. This timeline draws a clear line between the series and the constrained wartime production that preceded it; while wartime Dunhill production had narrowed in both material and workmanship, the 800 series represents the brand's return to a broad product range.

The OD abbreviation was actually inherited from an older practice at the brand — the custom-shaped pipes made to a customer's own specifications. After 1950 the stamping's meaning changed: it no longer indicated a single pipe carved to order, but a standard large-size series listed in the catalogue. On prewar OD pipes the letter corresponded to a grading scale running from A to J; what the letter precisely measures on the postwar series has not been confirmed by any official document. In practice, stampings such as ODB are found alongside ODA, and reading them is considered a separate subject.