'Davidoff Selección Suprema' !!?? was Zino stepping on Alfred's toes?

[99call]

Never seen these before.  If I was Dunhill's, I'd be pissed off with this.  I wonder if this was a very short lived line from Davidoff's due to a quickly dispatched 'cease and desist'

[99call]

cheers John

[NSXCIGAR]

 Apparently "Seleccion Suprema" wasn't a Dunhill-exclusive term. Not much Dunhill could do about it, although if the lack of anything else like this is an indication perhaps there were some ruffled feathers and this experiment ended as quickly as it began. 

That said, I've never seen anything like that before. I'd like to know what the Sahakians think about it and if they know anything more about other Davidoff Seleccion Suprema cigars.

[99call]

9 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I'd like to know what the Sahakians think about it and if they know anything more about other Davidoff Seleccion Suprema cigars.

Yep if anyone knows they will

 

9 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

 Apparently "Seleccion Suprema" wasn't a Dunhill-exclusive term. Not much Dunhill could do about it

I think if you've spent a least a couple of decades promoting a concept of the highest tier of the product you are offering , I think I'd want to have a conservation with a lawyer.....whether you'd get anywhere is a different matter.   Similarly if Dunhill were suddenly (at the time) to start a Chateau series, I think Zino would have something to say on the matter

[NSXCIGAR]

4 minutes ago, 99call said:

I think if you've spent a least a couple of decades promoting a concept of the highest tier of the product you are offering , I think I'd want to have a conservation with a lawyer.....whether you'd get anywhere is a different matter.   Similarly if Dunhill were suddenly (at the time) to start a Chateau series, I think Zino would have something to say on the matter

True, but Cuba plays by their own rules. There's a reason Zino told the Cubans to kick rocks in 91. 

[99call]

2 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

True, but Cuba plays by their own rules. There's a reason Zino told the Cubans to kick rocks in 91. 

If you look at the box the branding is a lot darker on everything but "Davidoff Seleccion Suprema".   It wouldn't surprise be if this was something done in Switzerland, like Gerard and is burgundy badges.  Zino always struck me as an opportunist

[99call]

Reached out to London Davidoff, and confirmed they,  nor Edward Sahakian had never seen a box with this stamp before, but he surmised that it was most likely a Swiss only thing done just before Davidoff set up its own Cuban line. 

[NSXCIGAR]

13 hours ago, 99call said:

most likely a Swiss only thing done just before Davidoff set up its own Cuban line. 

I could believe that and agree it's very possible the "Seleccion Suprema" stamping was done aftermarket by Davidoff.

Typically the "Seleccion Suprema" cigars of Dunhill and Fox did not sport the standard production name like these Delgados Chicos. The Dunhill and Fox cigars would have entirely different names, usually being "Seleccion Suprema No. X" or "Dunhill Selection No. X". These were considered different cigars than the regular production models (even though they were likely identical to regular production). 

The fact that this looks like a regular production cigar with a "Davidoff Seleccion Suprema" stamp makes me think these are materially different than the lines made for Dunhill or Fox and didn't come out of Cuba that way.

One would think short of his own brand he would have wanted what Dunhill and Fox had--not a regular production cigar with what is effectively just a Davidoff exclusive stamp. 

I'm somewhat surprised that Edward hasn't seen anything like that before. You'd think he would have seen the stock in Switzerland in the 1980s and come across something. 

[99call]

20 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Typically the "Seleccion Suprema" cigars of Dunhill and Fox did not sport the standard production name like these Delgados Chicos. The Dunhill and Fox cigars would have entirely different names, usually being "Seleccion Suprema No. X" or "Dunhill Selection No. X". These were considered different cigars than the regular production models (even though they were likely identical to regular production). 

The fact that this looks like a regular production cigar with a "Davidoff Seleccion Suprema" stamp makes me think these are materially different than the lines made for Dunhill or Fox and didn't come out of Cuba that way.

Thats sort of the whole point that I was making,  that these appear to be a pretty brazen bit of unregulated copy cat marketing ordained by Davidoff themselves.  It's worthwhile noting, (even though I think Zino would have commissioned a small Geneva based company to do it on mass)  That hand held stampers were like this from Everhot were available long before the 1960s, so if you wanted to, you could even do it in store.