Choose Your Weapons: The DW50

WHEN you’re a darts magazine what do you do to mark your 50th birthday? Well, amongst other things, surely a unique set of darts is the most appropriate souvenir? But DW wasn’t happy to whip up any old barrel and slap our name on it.

Instead, Darts World wanted a truly outstanding piece of tungsten finery. In combination with a unique team of experts and colleagues we have produced a singular piece of darting memorabilia, technology, and history all in one:

The Darts World 50 will be available to order (Here) from November 15th 2022 with release and delivery expected in early December

50 Years In the Making:

So first we asked our analyst and coach to design a dart that learned the lessons of the last 50 years as well as looking towards the next half-century.

“The tungsten revolution of the 1970s helped to kickstart modern darts. Over the decades’ tungsten content increased until the vast majority of players’ darts are 80% or more. A little more research however shows that since around 1988 it’s been 90% or more, that have really stood out from the crowd. So we selected a 90% tungsten billet to create the DW50.”

Proven Precision Performance:

“A narrowing nose of some type has been in the ascendency in recent times. Currently, Clayton, Price, and sometimes Wright all use an elliptical nose or a short taper. Hence we have a seamless 6mm taper from barrel to collar/point”.

Product: Darts (Steel-Tip) 21g
Material: 90% Tungsten
Dimensions: 48.5mm x 6mm
Finish: Golden Nitride Coating
Edition/Variation: DW50 (Anniversary Edition) 50 Sets only
Accessories: 3 x Winmau Vectra Stems (Red & Blk) x 2 Sets Darts World Std flights)
Price: £50

“Consistency of grip. To appeal to as wide a cross-section of players as possible we have chosen a grip style that is consistent throughout the barrel and has been used by multiple world champions across the ages.”

“Length and width dimensions are the subject of heated debate. However, very few players cannot use a 48.5mm dart that is 6mm wide. Many of the game’s icons including Eric, Phil and MVG have used a similar length, whereas a significantly longer dart cannot be used by those who struggle to get their ‘wrist around it’.”

A Golden Moment:

“Another major benchmark was the addition of coating to darts. 1990s players were delighted with the feel and look of the original titanium nitride coatings and they have been a constant source of development ever since. Obviously being your 50th anniversary the original Golden coating seemed unarguable. Many also prefer it to any other.”

We were ready to see how it looked and how it threw!

“Once a prototype (no coating) had been made we set about testing and refining the dart with a major-winning professional and as many other players as possible. After a few tweaks, our pro was happy and the other test throwers highly impressed, now it was time for the final flourish.”

Mr. Olivander’s View:

Next, we visited Winmau and presented Darts’ very own ‘Master Wandmaker’, Lee Huxtable, with our ideas, specs, and prototype. Lee and our pro went to work on producing the perfect production version of our creation.

Along with grip refinement, it was Lee who suggested a grooved collared point as this would include the most recent technological advancements in the overall design. Although we have decided to leave this to personal choice.

At this point all was complete, we awaited the final DW50 barrel set. The setup had been being worked on by all our testers and players but again it was the Winmau team that added the final flourishes to complete our special 50th Souvenir Pack.

The supplied preference set-up was the special edition Vectra stems with Std Flights (Special Gold & Red Anniversary)

For the braver amongst you, the Jonny Clayton-inspired Red Dragon Kite Flights and Prism Set Up is superb but requires confidence and belief.

Tungsten Anniversary Perfection:

It’s fair to say that the DW50 has impressed all that have come into contact with it: Designed by a successful coach, engineered by the best in the business, and manufactured to the highest professional standard.

Much to our delight the DW50 prototype was used in a live 9-dart leg in the MODUS Live League and pronounced perfect by our major winning professional.

With the special tweaks and unique presentation put together by our friends at Winmau and Red Dragon, we believe the DW50 could still be celebrated when Darts World marks its century in 2072!