A Little Claret With Your Beef Wellington? Sasieni Style

[agnosticpipe]

Ok this is the last of my pipe finds from the last week. I'd almost forgotten about this type of Sasieni pipe until I found this one in a thrift shop. I wouldn't have recognized it if it weren't for the blue band, which was used on the Claret by Sasieni. It was in pretty sad shape, but for $10 I took a chance that it would clean up. Rim damage on the front of the bowl, stem fit poorly, bit was all chewed up with 3 cracks, but I gave it a second life, a new stain job and it smokes better than I figured it would. I remember seeing these in tobacco shops in the mid 1980s, but never thought much about them. I still don't know where they fit in the Sasieni history. I thought it was a second for sure, but can't seem to find out much about them. It seems to be a transition pipe from the early 80s, but I don't understand the one dot on the stem. Sasieni pipes seem to have a lot of history and confusion about how they used the dots, so maybe someone can enlighten me. The shape of this one reminds me of a Brigham pipe I have though.

Any thoughts?

 

[ssjones]

Clarets pop occasionally, but much less often than Four Dots. They seem to have their own collecting niche and they don't go cheap, so you did quite well! I found this in a Mr. Can Ebay ad:
One of the oddest Sasieni lines was the newer version of the old One Dot originally abandoned in 1927. To avoid conflict with Dunhill and comply with their earlier settlement, Sasieni used a BRIGHT BLUE DOT on the top of the mouthpiece with a MATCHING BRIGHT BLUE SPACER RING around the tenon. This ONE DOT was called a "CLARET." It was a pipe offered only during the "Family Era." Like the "Tilshead" line produced by Upshall, the Claret One Dot was a pipe which for some reason did not meet the requirements for being graded either a Two Dot or Four Dot on that particular occasion. They had a perceived weakness in the grain or perhaps a small fissure or pit or fill so it was downgraded! But since Sasieni converted most flawed pipes into other finishes (using line-carving or sandblasting), Claret One Dots (like all Two Dots) were not a commonly offered grade. (After all, why would Sasieni leave a lesser quality pipe in a smooth finish to be sold as a One Dot or Two Dot when they could rusticate out the "flaw" and then sell it as a higher graded Four Dot?) This is readily verified from the listings on eBay where Four Dots appear frequently. Two Dots appear on eBay with about the same frequency as One Dots, Six Dots and Eight Dots! BUT, Claret One Dots have to be rarer than all the rest!!!
Sasieni Claret One Dots are seen occasionally on eBay and elsewhere. But not very often anywhere!"

 

[agnosticpipe]

Thanks for the info Al! Shoot I just don't see that much about these, and when I looked for Claret Sasieni pipes that have been sold on ebay, the prices are all over the place. Some of these seem not to have the blue band, and one seller had some NOS of unsmoked pipes that went for quite a bit over the $100 mark. Yet one pipe that looked to be in average used condition sold for $17, so who knows what they're worth. As usual, probably what someone is willing to pay. My interest is more in the historical aspect of the company. I think when the company was going through this transition period they must have been looking for ways to boost sales by introducing new lines of pipes, like this one and the other odd Sasienis I have, the 6 dot and 10 dot. In the meantime, I'll keep on enjoying the way it smokes. ::

 

[danielplainview]

Great looking pipe. Nice work. It looks factory fresh. $10? I think you did very well.