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kashmir

Lifer
May 17, 2011
2,712
63
Northern New Jersey
The pre-merger ones with the three inlaid C (mid-70s & earlier) are great smokers IMHO. Lovely grained briar and high quality low sulfur vulcanite stems that oxidize very slowly. Also the thin bits are a pleasure for clenchers like me. Hardly know you're carrying a pipe. Don't need to go for expensive Blue Ribands and Selected Straight Grains either. Traditions and Grand Slams are great too. No fills. Old Bruyeres too. Then you've got the Comoy seconds that run the gamut in quality. But you've got to do your homework. Pipedia is a great place to start. I've got about 30 of them representing half of the pipes I own. Expensive? Relative to what? They're certainly less than Dunhills and have far better grain IMHO. I've bought some beautiful example from under a hundred to $150. The company cut great classic English shapes. Here's a snap of their take on the bulldog theme.
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kashmir

Lifer
May 17, 2011
2,712
63
Northern New Jersey
Here's an example of a $95 eBay find. It's a Comoy's Grand Slam No. 398 squat bulldog. Got some bird's eye going on both sides of the bowl. LOL. Which is something you don't see outside of high priced artisan pipes.
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kashmir

Lifer
May 17, 2011
2,712
63
Northern New Jersey
I've got a couple of post 70s examples, with the lasered C, which buffs off almost by hand. They smoke great too. Mine were made in England. But the really recent examples I hear are coming out of Italy. And I haven't tried those. But why bother when you can pick up pre-70s estate for under a hundred? If you like classic English shapes, and appreciate history, give one a go. You can always resell it if its not to your taste.

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
I have a number of Comoys, both older and more recent, and they are all great pipes. Don't have any experience with anything made since the 90s, though.
Bob

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,068
Maryland
postimg.cc
I've had two Cadogan era (stamped stem) pieces, they were OK, nothing special nor bad. Like Kashmir advocates, you can get a fine 3 pc logo Comoys for under $100, so why trifle with the others? I sold two pre-Cadogan era pipes, to buy that 499 both for $50 and $75 each.

 

kashmir

Lifer
May 17, 2011
2,712
63
Northern New Jersey
Well, Comoys are not like Dunhills. Can't fix an exact year. Just ballparking. C stem logo: Three kinds. Pre-mid 70s merger its a three part inlay. Mid 70s to mid 80s its a single circular C inlay. Post 80s it a lazered painted on C logo, easily buffed out. Circular Made in London over straight England post WWII. Circular Made in England no London pre-war. Football shaped Made in England even earlier. Three digit shape numbers pre-merger. Four digit shape numbers post-merger. That should get you started. Check out Pipedia's Comoy pages. Also Dereck Green website. Also Greg Pease had a blurb on dating Comoys. Neill Archer Roan's blog has a number of fine articles on Comoy. Also don't forget the Jacque Cole article. And if you believe the legend Henri Comoy started the whole commercial briar thing mid 19th Century in St. Claude France before moving to London, then the House of Comoy was well established before ol' Alfred Dunhill came along. Cheers.

 

plet

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 23, 2012
175
0
Denmark
I have 3 with the three part inlay and they are great smokers. I like Comoys due to their staining and traditional shapes.

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
Comoy is one of the few pipemakers that has released Christmas pipes in the past. I don't know an easier way to date a Comoy than to get one that says "Christmas 1982" on it, or whatever.
And, yes, I'm particularly fond of Comoy Christmas pipes.
Bob

 
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