Brigham Pipes - Made in France?

[andya27]

I don't have a Brigham yet - but I have a couple in my wishlist at my favorite vendor. I thought these are Canadian pipes, but the description says the country of manufacture is France. Is another manufacturer making Brigham pipes?

 

[northernneil]

Brigham moved pipe production to France and Italy sometime in the early 2000's. They are technically still a Canadian company, just outsource the pipe manufacturing. Kind of like Nike, a US company but their product is made overseas somewhere.
If you want a Canadian Made Brigham, you need to try the estate market, or look for Trypis pipes. He used to carve pipes for Brigham back in the day.

 

[andya27]

Good to know, thanks. I've had mixed results with estate pipes. The Brighams I'm looking at look quite nice, and I think I'll purchase one - even if it's not made in Canada. There are some superb pipe manufacturing companies in Italy and France, so I'm not concerned about quality.

 

[northernneil]

I'm with you Andy, I'm not a big fan of estate pipes either. I do really like the Acadian line by Brigham, and have heard great thinks about the Chinook series too.

 

[kanada]

I have 4 Brighams and one of them is my favourite pipe. Whether or not they are Canadian made, I still really like them.

 

[rickpal14]

Their maple filters are STILL made in Canada. So there is that.....................

 

[andya27]

Just ordered a straight apple. Should see it Wednesday or Thursday. Photos to follow.

 

[mso489]

Not to dis Brighams in any way, since many find them wonderful pipes, but the traditional

French pipes, many from St. Claude, are wonderful briars with classic traditional designs but

still with a huge sense of style. And the prices are pleasingly moderate. Many of the classic

shapes of English pipes originated in France, but many of the English pipes are high priced,

whereas many of the French pipes are not.

 

[andya27]

My Brigham arrived today - from the Heritage series - made in France. It appears the acrylic stem pipes are French-made and the vulcanite stem pipes are Italian-made. For around $110 it's of similar quality to my Savinellis of similar price. I can't find any discernible fills. So either the factory did a great job there or there actually aren't any. Fit and finish is flawless. First smoke was with the Maple filter - didn't care for that much. Tomorrow I'll smoke some Pirate Kake without the Maple filter.
All in all, it's a wonderful clencher for the winter (with my hands in my pockets as much as possible) - just barely over an ounce. I had expected the walls to get hot, but they barely got warm, a very pleasant surprise from such a light pipe. A keeper.