Ben Wade Prominence? (pics)

[agnosticpipe]

I picked up this Ben Wade Prominence a while back, and just got around to cleaning it up. I don't like freehand pipes all that much, but this one looked a bit more different than the usual shapes. I couldn't resist picking it up as it was priced quite cheap, but I'm not familiar with this series of Ben Wade pipes. It has a long shank with a vulcanite end on it, and has a small stem. It's stamped A 2 in circles which I guess is the grade of the briar, which might explain the partially sandblasted finish. It also has the faint remains of the crown on the vulcanite shank. I just thought I'd post a couple of pics and see if anyone knows anything about this line of pipes.

 

[puffy]

Very nice looking pipe

 

[fnord]

Very nice, Orley!
You scored one of the Ben Wade freehands when the great Preben Holm owned the company. Most of his pipes resemble the Karl Erik Knute Dave is selling: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipes-for-sale-ashton-bbb-knute-tomato-amp-more-21517. Your pipe reminds me more of Poul Winslow - but what the hell - Holm hired Winslow when he was just a kid of 17 and Holm wasn't that much older. And Karl Erik worked for him as well.
Now, here's even more information on Ben Wade/Preben Holm from a four year old thread: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/ben-wade-by-preben-holm
Fnord

 

[cortezattic]

My first reaction was "Preben Holm" too. Pipedia.org has a very interesting discussion of the Preben Holm - Ben Wade connection.

 

[toobfreak]

That fashion of grading I'm not familiar with, but to me, the most important thing there is that it says Hand Made Denmark. That suggests to me that Preben Holm had something to do with the pipe, at least closely supervised it if not outright did the finishing touches on it. He was very picky about anything associated with his name and rejected a great many pipes for the slightest defect.
As to the grading, over the years I've seen Wades graded from 100 to 500 and to be honest, it seemed pretty subjective. They were all good. 500 was supposed to be top of the line but many of the 100's looked better to me.

 

[agnosticpipe]

Thanks for the info guys! I agree there seems to be some facts missing within this Preben Holm story about the Ben Wade connection, and who carved what. I don't really think that given the number of now big name carvers that produced pipes under his supervision it should really make much difference. I have seen a number of Ben Wade pipes from Denmark that look to be PH designs for sure, but I haven't seen this Prominence series. While researching them, it found a few, but most seem to be smooth only. Interesting pipes, and I like the long shank as it seems to set it apart from a lot of the other PH pipes.
This forum is such a great place to get educated about pipes and tobacco, there never seems to be an end of knowledge on the subject, (or enabling!) ::

 

[newbroom]

Great looking pipe Orley, whoever made it! I hope you get more information on it, and let us know how it smokes.

 

[toobfreak]

For me Orley, I have limited interest in classical shapes; many of my pipes are classically designed, but when done so, all there is left is the grain of the briar, the name and the workmanship. Freehands offer an almost unlimited range of creativity.
I've never seen a PH or BW pipe that was not good. I'm pretty sure that PH had something to do with any of the pipes he associated with, and some of the text suggests that many of his pipes were only roughed in by others and he did the real finish work, and back in the '70's, I was quite fond of many of the Monte Verdi pipes which I guess he was involved with too. They tended more towards being red or burgundy.
If you were working in his shop under Preben's auspices, I would guess you to be pretty damned good and got a heavy schooling in his style and methods. It would be nice if they were all serial numbered that I could look up and find out exactly who did my Wade's, but the fact that it was likely one of the great masters of today, and maybe even Preben himself, combined with the fabulous bruyeres he used, is enough for me.

 

[zitotczito]

Very nice looking pipe, enjoy.

 

[foggymountain]

I don't know about the Prominence, but I did have a Ben Wade for about 40 years. Terrible smoke. Great resale value. I sold it to a dealer for over 3 times the original cost.

 

[foggymountain]

Just saw a film in which Russell Crowe played a guy named Ben Wade. 3:17 to Yuma, I think it was called. Didn't smoke a pipe though. Now that I think about it, nobody in that film smoked or chewed. I guess they are trying to pretend we never existed.

 

[toobfreak]

3:10 To Yuma. Didn't you know? No one in the Old West smoked or chewed. 8O