Anyone know who made this pipe?

[pasunepipe]

I just grabbed this on eBay for a whopping $3.25. Anyone know what make it might be? It is hallmarked with an anchor, M, and lion on the silver band. That might date it at 1936. Or I'm totally wrong. The stem has "Royal Supreme Genuine Briar" stamped on it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

That's the steal of the year! Band is worth more than you paid for the whole thing. Sorry, have no clue re maker.

 

[alexnorth]

Good call! That's Beautiful pipe!

 

[dmcmtk]

Neat pipe. Your date for the Birmingham hallmark is correct.

 

[papipeguy]

Cohen, Percy & Co. in England made pipes called Royale and Civic Co., which was bought by Charatan offered a Royale. I could not find anything called Royale Supreme although there was a company in Ohio called Royale Rubber Co that made pipes in the mid 1940's.

The confusing thing for me is the nomenclature "Genuine Briar". I always thought that peculiar to American made pipes. During and shortly after WW II American pipes were made from mountain laurel because briar was difficult to get from Europe.

With the silver work being from Birmingham it suggests British made. I hope someone can come up with better info for you.

That's a great looking pipe and appears to be in remarkable condition.

 

[voorhees]

Classic and elegant.

 

[mso489]

Hmmm. The Genuine Briar stamp differs from the more usual American "Imported Briar" wording. The band certainly looks British. For its likely age, it is in absolutely pristine condition as near as I can tell. The design looks a little more English than American. Maybe someone can nail this down.

 

[samcoffeeman]

Those hallmarks don't look right though. There was a thread recently about fake hallmarks. Usually the shape around all three characters is the same. Particularly the anchor doesn't look right. It is a very nice looking pipe tho, definitely worth the price of admission!

 

[pitchfork]

I agree, the marks look odd without the box (cartouche?) around them, but they appear to be legal hallmarks for Birmingham 1936 (anchor, lion and date letter "M").
As for the maker, the "tell" may be the cup-shaped chamfer on the shank end. I feel like I've seen that before somewhere, but can't put my finger on it. Peterson and Dunhill don't do theirs that way, for instance.

 

[pasunepipe]

I agree, those hallmarks do look strange. Even when I was trying to date it the "M" looked a bit different than the closest one. I will try to research hallmarks a bit more I think.
Good call on that cup-shaped chamfer. I noticed it when I first bought the pipe, but didn't even think about using it to figure out the maker.
Can't wait to get it in the mail though. I really like the look of it.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Could this be one of those cases where the silver and pipe have two different origins? Pipe maker bought a gross of bands at one point and used them on their pipes that were being produced in an entirely different geographic location?

 

[mso489]

For the price, it was a steal. Really elegant shape, and I like the old time high gloss finish. The finish isn't to today's tastes, but I have a few of those, and they smoke really well.

 

[pagan]

The important this is how it smokes, keep us updated ::

 

[pasunepipe]

I really like the shape. It is pretty glossy looking. Hopefully it smokes well. I will keep y'all updated.

 

[kenbarnes]

The hallmarks look very genuine to me. I did do some research before I liisted it on ebay and did not come up with anything. Why I bought it originally, some years ago, was because the shape looked so 'handmade'and I wanted to handle it and find out who made it. I did clean it up a little and give it a final polish but it was in really good condition when I got it. I definitely think it is of English origin or imported St. Claude bowl and possibly 're-worked'. Yes, the dark walnut finish is not a really popular colour but it does have some decent grain on it. I have not smoked it but hope it smokes well.I am shipping it today!

 

[pasunepipe]

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I'm sure I will be happy with it. Can't say that I expected the seller to answer me on here. Haha

 

[pitchfork]

Why I bought it originally, some years ago, was because the shape looked so 'handmade'and I wanted to handle it and find out who made it.

I've bought more than a few pipes just because I wanted to see them and handle them in person, even though I had every intention of selling them on.

 

[jndyer]

Can't help with identification; however, it is a very beautiful pipe. Please update and let us know how she smokes.