Dunhill Special Series

Dunhill Special Series is a heading gathering Alfred Dunhill's pipes that fall outside its ordinary catalogue production. These pieces are known not by an individual shape or finish name but by the reason for their release: an award, an anniversary, a merchant's special commission. What they share is a low production run, numbering, and often metalwork added to the body.

To become familiar with the brand's standard production and stamping conventions, see the entries Dunhill White Spot and Dunhill dating guide.

Microphone (1981)

The "Pipe Smoker of the Year" title, awarded by the British Pipesmokers' Council between 1964 and 2003, was not just a title; a pipe was also commissioned for that year specifically for the winner. The 1982 holder of the title was BBC radio presenter Dave Lee Travis, and the commission went to Dunhill. Made to resemble a studio microphone as a nod to the presenter's profession, the pipes were completed in 1981; a total of fifty were made and stamped from 1 to 50. Records indicate that the series' first number went to the display case of the Alfred Dunhill museum in London, and the second to Travis. The rest gradually entered collector circulation over time; because of its unusual form, it is counted among the brand's most easily recognized commemorative pieces.