British Estates With The Best Stems

[stflorian]

There are so many great english estates, and they all bring something a little different to the game. Of those pipes makers, whose stems do you like the best and why?

 

[doctorbob]

Sasieni post patent, family era to me had the best stems. Comoy always made a good bit.
Doc

 

[ashdigger]

I own three Loewe pipes that are pre-WWII and they have by far the best stems of my English pipes.

 

[mycroftholmes]

I've found Orlik "hand cut" stems to be the most comfortable and less prone to oxidization than others

 

[tschiraldi]

+1 for family era Sasieni pipes. The pipes are light and the stems and bits are soooo comfortable!

 

[witchofthehollow]

im not as experienced here, but I tend to like narrower bit, as opposed to wide, since I clench often. Ill have to look into these Sasieni pipes though.. hmm

 

[sablebrush52]

To me, family era Barling, hands down. They used the finest quality German para rubber rod stock, very comfortable, nice "give", very stable wide bits with a deeply funneled wide slot that spread the smoke beautifully. After them, Comoy and Dunhill, followed by Sasieni and Charatan. Shaping on all of these brands was top drawer, but both the Sasieni and Charatan rod stock isn't the same level of quality as Barling, much as I love those makers.

 

[ssjones]

I'm a fan of Sasieni stems. I only have one Patent era pipe, but I don't see any difference between it and my family era stems. They're are all a little "clicky" on the teeth, which I like. Very similar to Taylor Ashton stems, which area also a favorite. Comoys a close 3rd place.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I'm with you, Sablebrush. Barling. The only trouble is that they're relatively soft, so many estates are kind of chewed-up and it's common for the nomenclature to be completely gone. One thing I love about them is that they get the most beautiful glossy deep black with a bit of buffing.

 

[stflorian]

There are a few brands I haven't owned that have been mentioned but they have been added to the "buy" list. How slow do the brands mentioned oxidize? While I love the classic shapes, I have had a few english estates that seem to oxidize badly if you look at them too much.

 

[slowroll]

I have a couple Charatans that were not badly oxidized and not overly soft. Seem to resist chomping.

 

[pepesdad1]

Comoy, Comoy and Comoy...love the thin bits. The pre-merger ones, of course. Paper thin between your lips.

 

[stflorian]

Sablebrush, is there specific time period for the barlings? I know the general consensus with Comoy, Orlik, and others is pre-merger but I'm not familiar at all with barling history and if certain time periods are better/worse than others.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sablebrush, is there specific time period for the barlings? I know the general consensus with Comoy, Orlik, and others is pre-merger but I'm not familiar at all with barling history and if certain time periods are better/worse than others.

The most desired pipes are from the family era, which ended in 1962. These can be distinguished by the use of a "BARLING'S MAKE" logo stamped in block letters with the word Barling's arched over the word Make. Excellent pipes continued to be made up though the late 1960's by the successor owners until the Barling factories were closed and production was outsourced. With regard to the stem work, the stems I referred to were in use from 1935 to the closing of the factories. If you want to know more about this maker, check out the Barling page on Pipedia:
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barling

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

I'm with you, Sablebrush. Barling. The only trouble is that they're relatively soft, so many estates are kind of chewed-up and it's common for the nomenclature to be completely gone.

I like their amount of give but the logo is commonly worn or virtually missing, something my ocd doesn't care for. Only have one Charatan but the double comfort cut is nice and internally it's comparable to any Barling I've encountered.

 

[pappymac]

Two of my recent antique store finds are "Made in England" or "Made in London" pipes. One is a Britannia made by Comoy and the other is a Salmon & Gluckstein made around early 1900. The stems on both are more comfortable then I expected.

 

[lraisch]

Unfortunately for me, the only pre-transition Barling I have has a replacement stem. I have several family era Sasienis which all have nice comfortable stems, but the two best I own are my 1949 (birth year) Dunhill and one of my Upshalls.