Estranged Twins?

[Chasing Embers]

Did GBD and Savinelli ever have some sort of connection?
Top-GBD "Irwin's Collector" 9613

Bottom-Savinelli "de luxe Milano"

904

 

[smittyd]

Thats weird they are almost identical!

 

[blackadderlxx]

Wow. Other than the grain they look like the same pipe.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Indeed. The top one is about 1/8" longer at the shank line that the bottom one. It doesn't seem odd that classic shapes by one mfg would be very similar to another's.
Great illustrating photo.

 

[seldom]

Convergent evolution. If a design works well it has a tendency to be repeated.

 

[cortezattic]

I've always thought the GBD 549 and the Sav 623 were "suspiciously" similar, but seldom makes a cogent point.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

The difference in shape between the two is very slight. The GBD appears to have a slightly larger bowl, and more rounded off at the bottom of the bowl than the Sav. They two could very easily be mistaken for the other, if not side by side.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The GBD appears to have a slightly larger bowl, and more rounded off at the bottom of the bowl than the Sav.

The GBD is significantly larger in hand and weighs quite a bit more. Savinelli 904/9004s vary greatly from pipe to pipe some have a more round bottom curve and some are even flat making them sitters. The briar in the GBD feels heavier than it appears leading me to think it may be extremely dense, and the walls of the chamber are much thicker than its Sav lookalike. Still need to find time to clean it up.