The History of the Dunhill Shell Briar

The Dunhill Shell Briar is a finish from Dunhill that offers a sandblasted surface in place of a smooth polish, emerging in the final years of the First World War. What sets the line apart is not the sandblasting itself but the oil-curing stage the wood undergoes before it. Since no catalogue page or advertisement survives from the finish's early years, its early history is traced almost entirely through the patent record.

Oil Curing and Sandblasting

Sandblasting is not Dunhill's invention. The method rests on Benjamin Chew Tilghman's US patent of 18 October 1870, whose listed applications include bringing out the grain in wood. What Dunhill tied to its own patent was the preparation briar underwent before blasting.

Under this process, the stummel is soaked for weeks in mineral or vegetable oil, then left to heat for days, during which the oil that seeps to the surface is periodically wiped away. By the end of the process the grain hardens and rises slightly, and a thin waterproof layer forms over the wood. Only after this stage is sand actually blasted; it strips away the hardened layer and reveals the raised grain beneath. If the desired depth isn't reached, the cycle can be repeated from the start. The patent text states that sandblasting applied on its own, without oil curing, cracks the wood, and that this additional stage removes that risk. Trials are said to have begun in 1914 with the help of a London firm specializing in glass sandblasting. The machinery and abrasive side of the work is covered in the art of sandblasting entry.