Briarville Restoration

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twangthang

Can't Leave
Sep 15, 2012
358
44
I posted a while back about an old Meer I found on EBay.

Original post can be found here http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/help-identifying-an-ebay-purchase

I sent it off to Ric at Briarville after calling him to inquire about his services. He was very informative and after blessing my heart for breaking the bone tenon I felt that I had found the right person to tackle the job.

He called me after he received the pipe to go over the job at hand. He needed to bore out the old pieces and would do whatever he needed to make the pipe whole and smokeable. He wasn’t sure until he had the old tenon out if it would be a push tenon, replacement bone tenon, but he assured me it would be usable.

When I received the invoice a short time later I was sure he had made a mistake. I called him to tell him he’d grossly undercharged me or hadn’t done the other restoration work.

He assured me the tenon was replaced and he had sanitized the pipe fully. He didn’t like to hit anyone over the head with extra charges. I was a little skeptical.

All I can say is that when I received the pipe back I realized that Ric is a master at his craft. He did exactly what was needed and sent me a pipe that was perfectly functional, sanitized, polished and still retaining the patina that gives this pipe it’s charm.

I will post an after pic, but in reality there is no great change to be seen. The internals are clean and there is a new bone tenon.

More than finding a cool old pipe on EBay I found a great pipe restoration service.


 

tnfan

Lifer
Jan 9, 2012
2,566
50,044
77
Franklin, Tennessee
Ric is definitely first class. Before he moved to Florida I had the pleasure of spending some smoke time with him. His repair/restoration work is excellent. He has restored a couple of estate pipes for me and did an excellent job. Highly recommend him!

 

mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
Always good to find a repair expert. Did you ever find out who the manufacturer was for the pipe? The reason I ask is that I have a similar looking pipe but know little about it.
the-everyman-london-pipe-7-600x450.jpg

I'm thinking they could be related.

 

twangthang

Can't Leave
Sep 15, 2012
358
44
No. I have searched and found nothing. Does your silver band have any markings? Mine has a pipe shaped stamp with a P, a period and then the next letter is rubbed out. It also bears a stamping sterling silver, but no hallmarks.

Your pipe is very similar. Do you have a case for it?

 

twangthang

Can't Leave
Sep 15, 2012
358
44
No. I have searched and found nothing. Does your silver band have any markings? Mine has a pipe shaped stamp with a P, a period and then the next letter is rubbed out. It also bears a stamping sterling silver, but no hallmarks.

Your pipe is very similar. Do you have a case for it?

 

mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
Hi Twang.
No, there is no stamp on the band unfortunately, or anywhere else. I do think the stem is amber. I believe the pipe is African meerschaum " Tanganyika Meerschaum is normally stained in shades of brown, black and yellow".
Thanks Ant, it's quite a nice pipe.

 

twangthang

Can't Leave
Sep 15, 2012
358
44
Ric stated he thought the stem was Bakelite and another poster thought maybe Catalin.

African meerschaum is definitely a possibility.

 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,165
Ric has done a lot of work on my meers and it was always top notch! My dear friend Simon and myself would both HIGHLY recommend him... :clap:

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,066
27,373
New York
Absolutely agree on that one Dave - I just found this thread and I cannot say enough good things about Ric. Dan and myself also shared a table with him at the Chicago show a few years back and the man is a total gentleman and pretty good at handing out Standard Tobacco samples!!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Seconding anthony', that is some first rate coloration on those Meers. Most Meers don't quite reach this place.

 
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