A History of the Alfred Dunhill Brand
Alfred Dunhill was founded in 1893, by the man himself, when he took over his father’s saddler business and converted it into Dunhill’s Motorities, producing luxury car accessories. In the early 20th century, Alfred Dunhill retired from the Motorities business and moved into the tobacco business. Since then, the brand’s product lines have expanded to include menswear, leather goods, men’s jewellery, writing instruments, timepieces, gifts and games.
In 1993, the Alfred Dunhill brand became a part of Richemont, one of the world’s leading luxury goods groups, whose other brands include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC and Montblanc. As a part of the prestigious Richemont Group, the Dunhill brand has undergone further global expansion, and as of 2018, Dunhill had five main retail regions: Europe, Asia Pacific, China, Japan and the United States. The brand has over 220 stores and over 3,500 wholesale points of sale around the world. In addition, the brand has four of the globally acclaimed ‘Homes’ retail lifestyle environments in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
- 1893: Alfred Dunhill takes over his father’s saddler business and converts it into Dunhill’s Motorities, providing ‘Everything for the car but the motor’.
- 1903: Alfred Dunhill’s enters the timepiece market with the creation of the brands first dashboard clock.
- 1905: An innovator in the men’s luxury goods market, Alfred Dunhill patents his Windshield Pipe, which was designed to allow comfortable smoking while driving or cycling.
- 1907: Alfred Dunhill retires from running the Motorities business and opens a pipe, cigar and tobacco store on Duke Street, London – an area popular with upper class men’s clubs.
- 1910: An Alfred Dunhill pipe factory opens near the pipe, cigar and tobacco store.
- 1915: The Alfred Dunhill signature White Spot marking is added to the brand’s pipes.
- 1921: An Alfred Dunhill standalone store opens in New York.
- 1924: The brand opens an additional standalone store in Paris.
- 1927: Further innovation from Alfred Dunhill with the launch of the revolutionary Unique lighter, the first lighter to be operated using just one hand.
- 1928: In collaboration with the Namiki pen company, Alfred Dunhill begins distributing the maki-e lacquered pens.
- 1936: The brand’s iconic Facet timepiece, based on Alfred Dunhill’s car head-lamp designs, is launched.
- 1941: The brand faces a setback when the Duke Street store is bombed during World War II; it was extended and rebuilt in the 1950s.
- 1940’s-1960: The Dunhill brand goes global with a highly successful expansion operation into New York, Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo.
- 1959: Alfred Dunhill sadly passes away.
- 1963: The Dunhill branded cigarette is launched
- 1977: The brand launches its bi-annual menswear collection.
- 1985: The first annual Alfred Dunhill Cup golf tournament; a team golf tournament for three man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country.
- 1993: The Swiss-based, South African luxury goods giant, Richemont, which owns brands from Cartier and Piaget to English gunsmith James Purdey, picks up the Dunhill brand.
- 1995: Fragrances sold under the Alfred Dunhill brand name are now manufactured and marketed through a licensing agreement with Procter and Gamble Prestige Products division, who gained the license as part of their acquisition of the Wella Corporation.
- 2000: The Alfred Dunhill Links Golf Championship supersedes Dunhill Cup arising from Dunhill’s sponsorship of the South African PGA Championship between 1995 and 1999.
- 2001: Former president of Cartier, Simon Critchell, and CEO of Richemont in North America, was put in charge of getting the Dunhill brand back on track after expansion in product lines and markets led to confusion around its brand identity.
- 2005: Saville Row tailor Richard James, watchmaker Tom Bolt, menswear designer Nick Ashley and leather-smith Bill Amberg are all hired by Alfred Dunhill to help revitalise the brand. Additionally, to help revitalise the image of the brand, actor Jude Law becomes the face of Dunhill menswear.
- 2008: Alfred Dunhill announces the appointment of menswear designer Kim Jones as Creative Director, a role Alfred Dunhill has not offered before now. Also this year it was announced that Dunhill would be replacing Italian fashion house Brioni, as the tailor of James Bond’s suits for all upcoming movies.
- 2010: Kim Jones announced that he is stepping down as the Creative Director of Dunhill.
- 2011: The Dunhill shows on the catwalk of London Fashion Week for the first time.
Dunhill cigarette
Dunhill cigarettes are a luxury brand of cigarettes made by the British American Tobacco company. Dunhill cigarettes are exported mostly throughout Europe, South Asia, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but can also be found on the Internet and in smoke shops throughout the United States and more commonly in Canada.
Dunhill Light cigarettes are packaged in a predominantly white packet, with a bevelled edged square of red in the centre. Dunhill have decided to phase out this pack and have introduced marketing information that the blue box described below is the same cigarette although carbon monoxide levels and nicotine levels are altered.Dunhill International cigarettes come in a red packet and are one of the most expensive and luxurious cigarette brands available, they are made with all Virginia tobacco and are among the only Dunhill cigarettes sold in the United States (along with the Dunhill King size beveled packs which come in Full flavor, light and menthol light.) These are available through specialty tobacconist shops and can be bought at Phillips and King. Dunhill (minus the “International”) are a more expensive version produced by BAT, and are sold in European (including Russian), Asian-Pacific, and Canadian markets.
Dunhill cigarettes were notably favored by legendary gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson and also English rock musician John Lennon.It is a little known fact that Dunhill International cigarettes American distribution is owned and operated by R. J. Reynolds, who is most notably famous for their Camel brand.The Dunhill cigarettes are considered to be the best British Cigarettes on the market and one of the most premium cigarette brands in the world. These cigarettes are packaged in a unique, flat box that gives these cigarettes an extra dose of style. In recent years these cigarettes have been made available in a number of different styles. It is a little known fact that Dunhill International cigarettes American distribution is owned and operated by R.J. Reynolds, who is most notably famous for their Camel brand.
Brands of Dunhill cigarettes
- Dunhill Filter (Tar 10 mg, Nicotine 0.7 mg)
- Dunhill Filter “Journey of Taste”, 100 year blends #15 ‘Art Nouveau’, #33 ‘Art Deco’ & #85 (Tar 10 mg, Nicotine 0.7 mg)
- Dunhill Filter Malta (Tar 7 mg, Nicotine 0.7 mg, Carbon Monoxide 7 mg)
- Dunhill Filter replacement packaged Blue, Malta (Tar 7 mg, Nicotine 0.6 mg, Carbon Monoxide 8 mg
- Dunhill Fine Cut Tobacco cut 46 times per inch, Australia packaged White, Blue and Black. In Romania there is also a Red and a Burgundy version, and in Hungary a Silver version.
- Dunhill United Kingdom – King Size (Tar 10 mg, Nicotine 0.9 mg)
- Dunhill Canada – King Size (Tar 15 mg, Nicotine 1.4 mg)
- Dunhill Special Reserve Canada – King Size (Tar 12 mg, Nicotine 1.3 mg)
- Dunhill Portugal – King Size (Tar 10 mg, Nicotine 0.8 mg, Carbon Monoxide 10 mg)
- Dunhill Malaysia (No More Than 20 mg Tar, 1.5 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill Lights (Tar 4 mg, Nicotine 0.4 mg)
- Dunhill Lights Korea (6 mg Tar, 0.6 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill Lights South Africa (9 mg Tar, 0.8 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill Ultra (Tar 3 mg, Nicotine 0.3 mg)
- Dunhill Infinite (Tar 1 mg, Nicotine 0.1 mg)
- Dunhill Infinite South Africa (2 mg Tar, 0.2 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill Essence (A new line of ‘slim’ cigarettes using 100% tobacco lamina)
- Dunhill Top Leaf (Produced with only the top leaves of the tobacco plant)
- Dunhill Menthol (a mentholated cigarette)
- Dunhill 1 mg Korea (Tar 1.0 mg, Nicotine 0.10 mg)
- Dunhill Blonde Blend nanocut Brazil (7 mg Tar, 0.7 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill SWITCH (Middle East Region, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hungary, South Africa, South America Region, New Zealand) A bead in the filter, when broken, turns the cigarette into a menthol. Available in Full Flavor (Black) and Lights (Silver) (7 mg Tar, 0.6 mg Nicotine)
- Dunhill Fine Cut Mild Indonesia (Fine Cut Mild Kretek, 13 mg Tar, 1.0 mg Nicotine)
