Celius stems

[denholrl]

I've been collecting Celius for a few years now and especially like shape 12, a half- to three-quarter bent slender Dublin. I have examples of shape 12 in the top four grades, lacking only a Pawn (sandblast) to complete the set (I'm waiting to find one as nice as the one that I was too cheap to bid up on on eBay a couple of years ago. Still kicking myself.)
Although I've had a Queen for several years, I saw another Queen 12 on eBay that looked beautiful, except that the stem was a replacement and a taper which I believe Celius never used. But, I liked the looks of the pipe well enough to bid on it and I won that one. The pipe arrived. I cleaned it and had a first smoke in it. It was fantastic; my best-smoking Celius. The grain was a near King as it could have been without actually receiving that highest grade stamp. And, it was light as a feather. To my surprise I didn't miss the original stem at all. In fact, I think the taper stem improves the (visual) flow of the pipes. So much for being a stem purist.
I'd like to hear some comments from other Celius collectors . . .
denholrl

 

[klause]

Hi Denholrl,
I've got a few myself, mainly the Chess series. They are, to my mind, some of the most beautifully, gracefully, elegant pipes in existence (I'm a huge fan, as you can tell).
Only yesterday I smoked my recently acquired Zenia Queen for the first time - an amazingly light pipe - and was, once again, bowled over at the smoking qualities of the pipe. He had a knack for graving an implement that ticks all my boxes.
One of the things a like is how a Celius is instantly recognisable across a dark and crowded room. This is in no small part down to the stem - I think they are very pleasing to the eye (though the Fantasy's do have a different style stem - not as instantly recognisable). I like the way all the shapes work with the same style stem, all be it, with a varying degree of a bend.
I have a King with a replacement stem - cut to resemble the original, but in a cumberland-esque finish. It smokes fine, BUT, it just irks me that it's not the original black. Also, that it is not as expertly executed as the original would have been, it doesn't have the same refinement. It's a beautiful pipe, that someone has at least tried to keep the original look of to a degree in terms of flow etc, but it just doesn't work for me. I'm NOT a stem purist by any stretch - but this one really does annoy the b'jaysus out of me - I love the original look, intention, uniformity (of stem), and how all the pipe bowls worked with the original stems - to me it's like saying, "hmmm! that 'Birth of Venus' is really quite nice, but I reckon that with an extra dab of paint here and there I'll make it better."
Still, it doesn't annoy me enough to cast it out into an unforgiving world ;-)

 

[klause]

Ok. Just been surfing FleaBay, procrastinating, and it came across a Celius Queen with a replacement stem. A taper stem. Even though it gas a buy it now price, a VERY good buy it now price, I'm afraid, for me, it's a big NO.
That stem just does not look right - it completely spoils the whole aesthetic of the pipe.
Damn - I think I'm becoming a stem purist!!!! Cure, anyone?

 

[klause]

Sam, if you can get one, I would highly recommend a Celius - especially one of the chess series.
In my experience the grade is irrelevant to the smoking qualities. I have examples of all grades and they all smoke equally well - which is wonderfully.
And, of course, they are beautiful.
Good luck with the hunt.

 

[cortezattic]

A thread like this should have pix.

 

[dmcmtk]

I'm very glad to see this thread, in my opinion one of the most original Danish pipe makers, did some fantastic sandblasts, here are some of mine,
Pawn 19

Pawn 25

Knight 21

This is the nicest pipe by Svend Axel Celius I have ever seen. It was fully restored by Ronni Bikacson at NightOwl Pipeworks. I would say Celius's shaping is unmistakably distinctive. This pipe is one marked "BY HAND". From pipedia, "Remaining a mystery is why some.. pipes of the Chess line are stamped with "by hand"." My thinking is this marking was used early in the pipemaker's career when he was establishing his name after his work at Poul Rasmussen, and for Larsen. The other line in the pipedia article, "What tempers delight is the fact that many nice Celius pipe is only good but surely far away from excellent concerning the overall craftsmanship." is, aside from being grammatically incorrect, is in my opinion....BS.