Help Needed Barling Pipe

A nice post family era pipe, dating roughly 1962-70 (I would guess towards the earlier part of that range) the size 6 corresponds to the old EXEXEL size. Lovely sandblast on that one. The Billiard Curvet, as you can se the 9 is the code for the flat stem. From the 1962 Retailers Catalog,

First of all, congratulations on picking up this fabulous pipe! That blast is truly stunning, and the crispness of it indicates that the pipe has been spared the horror of a buffer.
It's not an early transition pipe. That's a popular spin placed by sellers on eBay and some of them might even believe it. The only pipes that can be confidently identified as "early" transition are pipes with "Barling's Make" stamped on them in block letters, the word "Barling's" arched over the word "Make", and which also have the new numbering system. This new numbering system has four digit model numbers with the first digit ranging from 2 to 6.
Your pipe has the word "Barling" stamped on it in script. From the shaping it looks like a Barling Factory made pipe, so the period of manufacture is between late 1962 and 1970. In 1970 the Barling factories were shuttered and manufacturing was outsourced to Charatan and Ogden among others. The Barling stem logo looks like a restrike. Typically the Barling stem logo tends to partially or completely wear away, or darken over time. The only exceptions that I've seen to this are with unsmoked pipes in their box.
There is a myth that Barling pipes went straight into the toilet after the family sold their business to Finlay. That's bullshit. But it's beneficial bullshit as it keeps the prices artificially low on the later product and some fantastic smokers, equal to the family made product, can be had for a fraction of the cost. Quality did become more uneven, but mucho later. Yours looks to have been well made. Once it's cleaned up it should prove to be an excellent smoker.

Looks superb, I hope she becomes one of your favorites!
Bob

Very nice! As others have.pointed out that blast is equisite.

paulfg:
Congratulations on your first Barling; however, you should be warned before it is too late: They are the heroin of the pipe-world, a delicious experience which you will crave again and again until you can think of nothing else! Dunhill? Bah! Comoy's? Twaddle! Peterson? Please!
Consider poor sablebrush52. Once rich and famous, the toast of Tron, he was a Hollywood heavyweight. Now he has to resort to working on cartoons about dogs (DOGS, mind you) to support his all-consuming Barling habit!
For heaven's sake paulfg, turn back! Send your pipe to me for proper disposal, lest you, too, succumb to the beast that is Barling.

Yes a pipe from 1962, the end of the family era, and a Special, which is, well......Special. If you have not done any pipe clean up/restoration I WOULD NOT try to figure it out on this pipe as your first one. Just my opinion. PM sent.

paulfg:
With regards to this latest pipe, please check your messages for a PM from me.

Another nice find! Since you're in Greece, I'd suggest that you contact Alan at:
http://estatepipes.co.uk/
He does excellent work.

paulfg, You picked up a couple of nice finds. Welcome to Support Enablers Group.
One thing I wonder about the sandblast pipe is whether the "Made in England" stamp hints at somewhat earlier production than a pipe with "London England" stamped under "Barlings"?

Absolutely beautiful. Both of them. I find a lot of brands on the estate market, never seen a Barling. Hmmmm, I wonder why. Maybe Jesse has them all.