Ruby Bark (4612) (2020)

Dunhill's "12" Stack is an older design from the English marque, beginning its life as the basis for one of the "windshield" pipe designs that Alfred Dunhill marketed to automobile drivers. This particular Group 4 offering features a tall, slender bowl — iconic for the shape — paired to a long stretch of Churchwarden stem, creating a lean, elegant profile. A sterling silver band accents the shank end, bridging the Ruby Bark sandblasted stummel to the jet-black of the vulcanite stem. It's a protracted and refined piece, and it should make an ideal reading pipe, with the smoothly-polished, chamfered rim ready to aid in the loading of a preferred blend.

Dunhill's Ruby Bark finish is one that's gone through a fairly extensive evolution since its inception in 1972. It began as the Redbark and has always remained a red-stained sandblast, but the color was brightened a few years after its introduction before Dunhill returned to the original, darker hue in 1976. Eventually, though, the Redbark was discontinued in 1987. After a hiatus of several decades, the same ruby-stained sandblast was reimagined in the form of today's Ruby Bark finish, adding to the rich, crisp aesthetic accents of sterling silver for a colorful presentation that still retains a high level of formality.