Early Dunhill OD Pipes

Dunhill OD is a stamp family found on Dunhill pipe bodies from the 1920s onward, and one that became fixed in its postwar form as "ODA." By general acceptance, the letters stand for "Own Design," marking pipes that fell outside the brand's numbered standard shape chart. The stamp is usually followed by a second letter, running from A to J, indicating the pipe's grade. Because pre-1953 ODs left only scattered traces both in catalogs and in surviving examples, the stamp's early period is one of the most debated subjects in Dunhill literature.

The Prewar Period

According to the records, OD first appeared in Dunhill catalogs as a group in 1928, and was withdrawn from catalogs almost entirely in the years that followed. John C. Loring, who has compiled the brand's stamp literature, reports that fewer than two dozen surviving prewar examples are known. The known pieces share a common outline: large-bodied, mostly smooth-finished, and individually made pipes. Loring, citing the economic conditions of the 1930s, holds that OD never became a regularly sold product line before the war. Why the stamp appears so rarely remains unknown.

After the War: The 800 Series

Shortages of raw materials and equipment during the war years set production back; supplies of briar and of vulcanite, the mouthpiece material, were disrupted, and no annual catalog was issued throughout the 1940s. With peace, the brand's customer base also shifted, and its weight moved toward the American market. In 1950 Dunhill introduced three-digit shape numbers beginning with 8; on the shank, the OD stamp and grade letter were struck above this number. One branch of the series, numbered in the 80_ and 86_ range, was given over to medium-sized pipes of unusual shape. The other branch consisted of what the factory called "semi-giant" pipes — large classic shapes — beginning with 83_ and later expanding to the 84_ and 85_ numbers. Known examples from this second branch include the ODA 834 prince, the ODA 836 panel billiard, and the ODA 841 lovat.

1953 and the Modern ODA

The Italian briar used for the smooth finish became available in blocks large enough for a big pipe only after 1948, and even then at high cost; Algerian briar, meanwhile, was reserved for the sandblasted finish the brand called Shell. By Loring's account, this cost gap meant that smooth-finished semi-giants carried the next grade up, the ODB stamp, until 1952; Shell pipes of the same size, meanwhile, were left outside the OD line and priced as group 4. In 1953 the order reversed: smooth semi-giants were dropped to ODA, Shell semi-giants were raised to ODA, and the center of gravity of production shifted to this group. In these same years Barling had also entered the American market with its own large sizes, named EXL and EXEXL; this competition is thought to have played a part in the abandonment of the 80_ and 86_ branch. For a method of reading years from the stamps, see the Dunhill Patent Stamps and Dating article.