D21
The 2023 Christmas commemorative drops this Friday, September 22nd, at 6pm Eastern Time. There are shapes aplenty this year, including one rarity (seen above) and four in the Sherlock Holmes range:
01 * 03 * 05 * 103 * 106 * 120 * 127 * 128 * 150 * 15 * 221 * 230 * 264 * 268 * 304 * 306 * 338 * 404 * 406 * 408 * 53 * 606 * 65 * 69 * 701 * 85 * 86 * 999 * B42 * B5 * D21 * X105 * X220 * XL02 * XL11 * XL13 * XL16 * XL17
The gloss deep ruby sandblast is intended to evoke, says Andy Wike at Laudisi, “the deep red stains of the first sandblasted pipes.”* In studio lights, the red hues come out more brilliantly than what I was able to capture in my own home lighting (which I admit is anything but ideal), or in natural daylight or evening home lights.
The clenching shelf looks to be perfectly parallel to the bowl rim across all the bent shapes, as this rather imperfect photograph suggests.
Stamping is clean and immaculate, as we’ve come to expect in recent years, well arranged on the underside of the shank.
The sterling band’s inset bead lines is a cause for celebration, as I thought these were now a thing of the distant, pre-Laudisi past. They lend great elegance and sophistication to the sterling, as they always did on Dublin-era high grades. The new vulcanite F/T features an inset aluminum P and the new chamfering, which should provide a good smoking experience.
As seen in this XL16 (above) and the samples I look at, the stain doesn’t seem to have taken in a few of the wider crevices, revealing a raspberry color. There are also some places around the shank tenons where a bit of Halcyon II wax or other polish might remove some blackened discolorations.
The year’s complete package includes a suede leather pipe sock, the “Chat” brochure and the little silver polishing cloth. The bowl + mount + stem + leather sock package seems a bit incongruous to me, in the sense that the inset P and beaded sterling historically have been used in mid-high to high-end releases, while the bowl treatment is typical of entry-level lines. While it doesn’t sing “Christmas” to me the way recent years have or proclaim the festive spirit like Rattray’s recent release does, there are still a number of shapes on offer I’d leave out for Saint Nicholas. I’m sure every Pete Geek will have his own favorites, but here’s a few of mine—
B5
128
127
404
69
D21
TO ANDY WIKE, K&P & LAUDISI
MANY THANKS
FOR MEDIA AND SAMPLES
(as always!)
*I was reminded, in fact, of Dunhill’s Rubybark with its sterling band, but of course it didn’t appear until 1972. In fact, I couldn’t think of any marques with a blast finish in dark ruby from the late 19th c. or early 20th c., Dunhill’s own blast not appearing until 1917/18.
Welp, I’ll be getting one if I can score a D21, it’s my favorite non system Peterson shape. Hopefully I am able to secure one as ill be out of town for a medical appointment. Here is to hoping and maybe some good luck on my side.
Well looks like I got lucky, at 430am on my way to the airport I logged into SPE and managed to get a D21 and then today on the US drop it turns out all the D21s have gone to retailers.
Anyone aware of how many D21’s were available on the europe site?
I love the beaded silver band. I also think that the aluminum (or gold colored-brass?) inlaid “P” logo’s should be on every Peterson that can accommodate them. Pretty cool pipes, except the sandblast and stain.
I like it very much! The old sandblast looks great and also the ruby color goes very well with Christmas. What I find really great though is the tight sterling band which I loved in series like Limerick or Kilkenny! For me it’s the strongest point of this pipe and I’m excited as I love, you know, the older classic series! I also wouldn’t want another army Pete for this year and I’m glad that the style here is classic. As for the shapes, I agree with you for 128 and 404, but also 85 stuck in my mind. I… Read more »
Wow what a variety of shapes and some very rare ones too. I´m always a big fan the B42
but this year I have to think twice.
Great shapes, great color, but…. Blimey, they miss a p-lip 😉
Sebastian, I fully agree with your statement! Even the ‘Blimey’ which isn’t usually in my American vocabulary, but says it so so well! Gotta ❤️Peterson & the p-lip ??
The D21… l might actually consider myself geeting one. It is a lovely shape. As a matter of fact: l am smoking smoking my POTY 2017 (wich is a D21 l belive). The one with the laser engraveings….
Regarding the D21 and the POTY 2017 shape … but the again, l could be very wrong. I can be diffrent shapes ??
My english is poor… Are they same shapes? The POTY 2017 and the D12?
Kindly from Ralle P
Hey Ralle, yes the D21 is the POTY 2017 ?
????
The only thing about these pipes that speaks Christmas to me is the stamp. I’m on the fence. I may order one, I can always return it.
Not a bad looking line, but the ruby doesn’t really stand out. Same problem as with the stems on Savinelli’s St. Nicholas this year: under studio lights you can see the color, but we don’t tend to smoke under studio lights. I kind of feel like they would have done better using the same stain as on the sandblasted Harp, but with a copper band.
That would’ve been cool!
Unfortunately, pretty underwhelming…
Beautiful pipes! I am def in for a D21 and Darwin of course. The B5 is a great shape for Christmas too.
It’s nice looking and I really like the bead line around the band, classy touch. However I blew my pipe budget this year on the my Rua POY and the recently announced PPN XL5BC. Im more of a halloween pipe guy anyways.
I was going to try a different approach this year buying my holiday pipes and “kill two birds with one stone”. Normally, I would snatch up a Christmas & Halloween pipe on the day of the drops. Then a couple months goes by and SPC offers their holiday blend tobaccos “free” with a Peterson purchase and in order to get a blend I need to again purchase another pipe. This year I was going to hold off on both releases until this offer as their is usually still several pipes to choose from during this time. With the offering of… Read more »
Chris, life is sometimes so difficult. Sigh.
Not a fan of these. Firstly, I guess I’ve become a p-lip snob. I actually have a smooth finish 68 with a FT mouthpiece which I just don’t use anymore because of that, (be up on eBay eventually). My Brigham pipes of course are FT pipes and I don’t give it a thought. A Peterson needs a p-lip. Secondly, I always have liked the rusticated or especially the sandblast finishes but I have a number of them now. What I’m really aiming for (after the PPN pipe) is a really nice smooth finish pipe, or 2 in one of several… Read more »
I always like a silver band…but…its a shame no Christmas stamp on the silver…but..the briar Christmas stamping is well done ? I wish the elegant 128 shape would be filtered…even 6mm…but…happily there other shapes I like…let see the prices when they come out. I bought the Christmas Rattray and Savinelli already…so…maybe…I‘ll get this one.
Hey Mark,
Thanks for bringing us the latest offerings from Peterson. Interesting looking pipes, and very nice to see the D21 shape again! Since I typically do not buy brand new pipes,I’ll probably pass on this offering. But to you, thank you for your dedication with the PPN blog and providing us “Pete Geeks” something to look forward to each Sunday morning!
That D21 is beautiful but i don’t get the same Christmas feel from these that the previous releases have. But still that D21. . .
I think offering the higher quality vulcanite stem instead of the acrylic army mount is a great idea as this may be the first Peterson pipe many people purchase. In my opinion they’ll almost certainly have a better initial smoking experience and be more likely to become Peterson fans. Personally, I’m way over budget this year on pipes so I’ll have to content myself with the 2023 PPN when it arrives.
It is a bit of a relief, really, that this year’s Christmas line doesn’t tempt me. I’m feeling rather surfeited after indulging so many pipe temptations in 2023, and am looking forward to the PPN limited edition XL5BC that I pre-ordered, which may arrive sometime around Samhain.
Mark, thank you for indformation! I presume, these D21 will disappear from shelves, definitely. Hope, I’ll have one.
I just saw these drop on EU. I might get a 53 if there is a nice ~ ring grain one in the mix. I’m such a sucker for double beaded sterling bands. I’m still not fond of the stain, it looks kinda like the old Dunhill RedBark (not a fan) which is not as bright as the newer RubyBark, (which I like). Neither can hold a candle to Peterson’s Rua, if only we could get more?. Are they really that much more labor intensive? Luckily I couldn’t care less about a P-Lip. ? Sacrilege, mentioning it here, I know,… Read more »
Well, I didn’t see any 53’s that were to my liking, but there was an 03 with a nice symmetrical flame L/R blast that I couldn’t pass up.?
Oh, Oh, SPC dropped a 53 that had an almost twin blast pattern to the 03 I bought….You guessed it, I bought it.
Lots of pipes (613)/shapes available at the drop but I did not see any D21’s. Maybe they will drop later.
I saw 5 D21 at SPC, all gone in less than a minute.. yes I grabbed one.
Though SP has recently added more rare items in time, anything to hours to weeks.
I got mine from SPE
As mentioned in a recent post, the D21 sold out in less than a minute, I verified this yesterday when I first called smokingpipes.com and spoke to a rep on the phone right after they went on sale but could not find any, he could find nothing about them except that some had gone to wholesalers. I then emailed smokingpipes.com, where I received a prompt reply that they had indeed sold out in one minute. To make a long story short I discussed with the rep via email how it is my belief that that the number of D21’s made… Read more »
Hi Skip, I thought I’d reply to this, as actually I’m partially to blame here. There wasn’t any decision to only release a small # of D21s. For this release, as for all commemorative annuals since way back in the Dublin Era (think c. 2000 forward), when K&P has extra bowls not suitable for a collection or release, these trickle down into lines like the SPD and Christmas. This happened with the SPD 2023 this year when they found about a dozen of the D21 / POY 2016s during the factory move. Same thing here. The “My Bad” part of… Read more »