A Very Beautiful Old BBB

Was anyone else watching this one?
Wow.
One fine pipe!
I'd love to see the other side of the bowl, if it has 360 straight grain, I haven't seen one better!
I totally understand why it fetched a good sum.
Absolutely beautiful.
VINTAGE BBB "OWN MAKE" PIPE WITH HALLMARKED SILVER BAND WITH LEATHER CASE

I would have bid, but saw fairly early on that it was gonna be a showstopper.
What a glorious thing it is!

Par for the course on eBay.
If pictures had been better, it may have even went for more!
These pipes though are my favorite kind,

untouched and unmolested,

sat on a shelf in a closet somewhere for who knows how many years,

unsmoked,

later on a family member who has no clue about pipes posts it up for sale and I'm sure some people are shocked to see just how much money an old briar pipe can go for!
I've been an antique store/junkshop hound all of my life, but only recently got into pipes.

I remember seeing many pipes throughout all my browsings, but I didn't pay them much mind, and was kind of grossed out anyway at the crusty stanky state of they're usually in, I would have never guessed that there was actually an active market in such full force for old pipes!
--- wish I would have got hip sooner!

::

...and in other news, just moments ago, the hammer went down on this luverly old Sasieni Ashford, I was seriously thinking it was gonna crack the $1,000 mark, but it fell just a wee hair short.
AWESOME PRE WW2 PATENT FAMILY ERA Sasieni FOUR DOT "ASHFORD" English Estate Pipe
Quite a looker,

but I'd rather have the BBB.

::

8O

yep.
She was a pretty rare bird.

Here's something that went for a bargain I think.
Any opinions as to the dating of this Dunhill?
Calling dmcmtk Dave!

Calling dmcmtk Dave!
Vintage Briar Estate Pipe
It has the "mysterious black spot" and looks like a 20's era pipe to my eyes.
Yes, the small Q&A note is from me!
Was I right,

or was I wrong?
But I did not win the pipe,

despite several bids,

I'm a cheapskate LOL!
::

Not a connaisseur of these British pipes, why are they going for so much money, especially the Sasieni? There's nothing extraordinary about it....

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Snarky answer =


But seriously,

that question gets rehashed over and over again.
I haven't been in the game long enough to know whether or not the British estate market is currently in a bubble with inflated prices or not, but they've always been highly desirable to collectors.
Essentially, when you buy one of these older British pipes, you are getting the equivalent of an artisan pipe - yes, they are that well done, and most of them are actually handmade.
The pre-war pipes always go for big money especially.
They ain't makin' no more of 'em and add in the significant historical appeal and it all makes a bit more sense.
Although the prices may seem high, compared to obsessive maniacal collectors in other areas, it's not really that large a sum of money relatively speaking.
For example...
Old telephones,

Rare Vintage Clear Western Electric Bell System Trimline Push Button Phone 11-68
Vacuum tubes,

Very Rare Western Electric 274A Tube with Engraved Base
Toys,

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon
Rare postcards,

Rare Early 1900 CUBAN STARS Team Photo Negro Baseball League REAL PHOTO Postcard
45rpm singles,

THE BEATLES Love Me Do RARE UK 1962 ORIGINAL ZT/JR DEMO 7" 45rpm SINGLE McARTNEY
Obscure LP records,

Index 2nd LP DC Michigan garage psych - orig pressing
Fountain pens,

VINTAGE MONTBLANC # L 139 FOUNTAIN PEN MEISTERSTUCK-BLACK- PALLADIUM NIB -1930s
Fishing lures,

STORM NIB PRE RAPALA WIGGLE WART
Stamps,

1861-66 US Portrait 5c Sc 67a
Etcetera etcetera and so on and so forth...

::

Troy, you wouldn't bid past $67.66?!?!?

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Dave!
:lol:



It would have been different if it was a Shell!

...but, I do have a soft spot in my heart for the smaller pipes and that one looks like it'd be the equivalent to a Grp. 2 or 3?
I should have bid more!
Cheap entry into the "black spot club" !

:mrgreen:
But, I ain't Rockefeller y'know,

and I got other irons in the fire,

so,

no regrets.
Thanks for weighing in and clarifying some things,

I appreciate it!

:clap:
:
@ Al
This may be a bit outta left field,

but what the hey,

might as well toss it out here as well as anywhere else.
I bought this pipe with the sole intent of flipping it,

I know Ashfords are hot,

and I believe it to be an earlier example,

no, it's not stamped as an Ashford,

nor does it carry the prestigious dots,

but it is one of the more scarce variants of a 2nd,

and it's in pretty damn good shape,

not to mention sporting some decent grain,

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/an-oddball-sasieni-2nd-hands-any-additional-info
I was gonna list it on eBay "as found" with no clean-up whatsoever, mostly due to the fragile nature of the Hands logo which I don't want to erase, it's barely there as it is --- and as such, it probably wouldn't pull much anyways...
...so,

I'll offer it here to you if you're interested,

I can think of no better home it could go to!
If I was a really nice 'n cool guy I'd just gift it to you, but I'm on a budget and was planning on selling this along with a few others to build a PP balance for eBay mania LOL,

regardless,

PM me if you're interested,

I'm sure we could work out a deal.
If you don't need it, just let me know here,

as I was planning on listing the stuff fairly soon.
And, if this is out of line or a breach of etiquette, or just plain scummy of me,

please feel free to delete this post.
Thanks.
A few additional pix:

After receiving word from Al,

he's said he doesn't need it right now,

for a variety of reasons,

so,

the pipe is on offer and open to anyone who may want it,

before it goes up on the 'bay,

PM if interested.

::
Scratch that.
The "HANDS" has been had and is no longer available.
:!:

This is my kinda thread!



Many offshooting tangents and diverse subplots!
Back to the difficult to determine a date Dunhill...

Erm,

:?
maybe I do regret not bidding more,

dammit.
After looking around a little more, it seems obvious that it's from the 20's, but very hard to accurately place due to lack of date code stamping - and I can't quite make out if that # close to the bowl on the shank is just a 2 or a 21 or perhaps something else - and the odd little horseshoe-shaped symbol in front of LONDON is a total mystery to me. The REG No. 654638 stem stamping seems to have been discontinued in 1933.

:?:
Misc. bits from John Loring...

"Since 1918 Dunhill has stamped its smooth finished pipes with a date code (non numeric through 1921 and numeric from 1922 forward) that allows us to determine the year of production. But for the initial years of production, 1910 – 1917, when Dunhill wasn’t concerned with being able to determine when a pipe was produced, save for what can be deduced from various patent stampings, dating with any specificity has been beyond our grasp. Recently, however, fellow collector, Kevin Chapman, turned his attention to the bits of those early pipes and what he found now allows us to date those early pre-date code pipes with a bit more specificity.
What Kevin spotted was that while the undersides of most early Dunhill pipe bits are either unstamped or stamped “REG. No [over] 654638”, some are stamped “PROV. PRO [over] 2983/16”. The “/16” dates Dunhill’s application for what became the Registration Number bit stampings to 1916 and from that we can deduce that the Registration was granted circa 1917. (Dunhill bits had a Registration Number stamping through circa 1933.) "

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+

"While the universe of reported pre WWII Bruyere DRs is regrettably small, one can comfortably conclude that there was a consistent system of stamping 'stops' on Bruyere DRs in place from the early 1910s through the early 1930s with the strong suggestion (but not a certainty) that these stops and stamping placements relate to the DR grading indicated in the then contemporary catalogs. It is probably also reasonably safe to suggest that stops stamped before or after the LONDON indicate the lower two catalog grades and that those stamped before or after DUNHILL indicate the higher one or two catalog grades.
Given the small number of pipes reported any thing further must be considered speculation. However, noting (a) the dates of the two reported pipes with stops stamped before or after DUNHILL; (b) the apparent introduction of a 4th grade circa 1925; and (c) the comparative population of stop stampings before and after LONDON, it may be hypothesized that grade stamping from lowest (1) to highest (4) were:
(1) after (and often slightly beneath) the N of LONDON
(2) before (and often slightly beneath) the L of LONDON
(3) after (and often slightly above) the L of DUNHILL
(4) before (and often slightly above) the D of DUNHILL"

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+

"The pre ’25 Dunhill comes in only two finishes the Bruyere and Shell. In other words if the striking appearance of beautiful grain is important to you, give these pipes a pass, for even a DR Bruyere can’t begin to hold a candle in terms of readily visible grain to a post 1930 well grained Root briar. Similarly if you only like large pipes the pre ’25 Dunhill is likewise generally a pass, for while the pre ‘25 Dunhill is found in a full range of shapes, in general it is an appreciably smaller pipe - roughly a group 3 by today’s standards - and pipes larger then what is today a group 4 are relatively rare. On the other hand if you are looking for a medium or smaller pipe with great smoking characteristics, a warm tactile feel, and exceptional character I doubt you will ever find better.
The pre ‘25 bit is a thicker, rounder vulcanite, which in my view works exceptionally well for a smaller pipe, less so for larger pieces. "

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