Ben Wade "Danish Hand Model" - what does "X" mean?

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jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
I just bought a Danish Hand Model. It's a 100 grade, and I know about the grades, 100 to 800. But this says "100 X." Does anyone know what the "X" signifies? It's certainly got a lot of very thin grain!

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
Photos, while maybe not strictly necessary here, are always appreciated. And, which way do the grades go? 100- best or worst?

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
Grades go 100-800, lowest-to-highest, in increments of 100.
This came from an enormous lot which was donated to a building salvage store. They had me come in and figure out basics, and they'll list them individually on flea-bay. They had a few GBDs, a BBB, couple of Comoy's and Savinellis, another Preben Holm-era Ben Wade (same nomenclature as mine, minus the 'X'), six Israel-era Alphas, lots of Danish freehands of various sorts, some assorted British and Italian... probably 40+ total. Plus quite a few pipe stands, including three circular ones with days of the week printed, for your handy pipe rotation habit.
I ended up buying two: this, and a Soren sitter that looks, if you squint very hard, like a fish monster. Tilted so far forward that, looking straight at it, you can almost see the bottom of the bowl, with a wide, flat 'smoosh' base.
One side of the Ben Wade has forgettable grain:

m3S4EZI.jpg

The other is all killer straight & flame:

L42JkvQ.jpg

I'll take both to the local Tinder Box to get them, and their stems, buffed up a bit.

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
I've now seen many more Danish Hand Models on eBay and elsewhere, though I haven't seen a grade higher than 400. None of them have been stamped X.

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
It does seem likely, though I haven't seen enough of these to know whether this would mean a larger pipe or better grain.

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
Update: I called smokingpipes.com to see if they had any idea. They asked several people there, including someone who works exclusively with estates and records a lot of stampings and nomenclature. Nobody has seen the "X," though that last person said they believe, when pipes were being set aside for a specific person, the Preben Holm folks would put an additional identifying stamp on those pipes, and this could be that.
The pipe collection from which I git this had two Ben Wades, both "Danish Hand Model," both 100, but only one stamped "X." Rehardless of stamping, of the two, I much preferred this one; the other had a sort of bell-flared bowl with plateau, and a nearly straight shank (slightly bent stem), square paneled and flared towards the stem. Nice, but not as nifty as this deeply-bent egg, which has a tiny bit of plateau on the upper edge of the shank end.

 
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