Dunhill (White Spot)

Dunhill is an English pipe brand that grew out of the tobacconist's shop Alfred Dunhill opened in 1907 on Duke Street in London, recognized worldwide by the white dot on its bit. Despite being produced on a factory scale, it is regarded as the pinnacle of the English school thanks to its standard of handwork and rigorous quality culling; the brand's pipe line is known today as "Alfred Dunhill's The White Spot."

The tobacco blends carrying the same name are not the subject of this entry but of Dunhill Tobacco Blends.

Founding and the White Spot

Alfred Dunhill, finding the polished French pipes of the period he sold in his shop insufficient, set about producing his own briar pipes in 1910. The brand's first major innovation was oil-curing the wood: this process, which removed the wood's sap and its sharp tannic taste, was protected through patent applications filed throughout the 1910s. Oil curing aimed to give the new pipe a clean, neutral taste from the very first smoke; the merciless culling of flawed bodies also fed the brand's reputation for quality.

The white dot that gave the brand its present name is widely believed to have appeared in 1915; some sources cite 1912. Its purpose was not decorative: it was placed to show which side of the hand-cut vulcanite bit should face up when fitting it to the pipe. Over time this small mark became one of the pipe world's most recognized symbols.