GBD - Help to indentify the period they were made

[mich]

Hi all

I´m new in this pipe world. I don´t know much about pipes and need your knowledge

Just bought two old GBD, but don´t know if they are good or not, and don´t know the period they were made. Some people said that after 1981 the GBD pipes are not very good, Here I put the pictures of the pipes.

 

[danielplainview]

Pics are not showing.
Check out this thread.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/the-gbd-collectors-thread

 

[mich]

Hi thanks!

can you tell me how can I upload the pictures correctly?

 

[cortezattic]

Instructions for Posting Pictures in Forum Posts offers a couple of ways to do it.
BTW, I have 3 or 4 GBD's from post 1981, and they are are wonderful smokers. Those pre-1981 GBD's must be magical! ::

 

[snagstangl]

I find smoking them is the best way to find out if they are good or not.

 

[dmcmtk]

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[pagan]

I find smoking them is the best way to find out if they are good or not.

....dido
https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD

 

[ssjones]

I was able to fix your pictures (from your web host, just insert the URL directly into the reply box, don't use the "IMG" function (you doubled that function).
The Century has the brass rondell and straight-line "London,England" stamping, so that appears to be pre-merger (before '81-82)
The other (blasted) has a stamped stem logo and Made In London England stamping, so that appears to be a post-merger pipe (after 81-81).
I've had some success with later pipes, but they aren't consistently as good as pre-merger pipes.
As suggested,give it a whirl!

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Just bought two old GBD, but don´t know if they are good or not,..."
Mich, the only way to find that out is to fill them with tobacco and smoke them. A pipe can look beautiful and smoke like a pig as of course a pipe can be pig ugly yet smoke beautifully...I have some of each :roll:
Welcome to the forum ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[gloucesterman]

GBD pipes made before 1981 were for he most part manufactured in Codogan controlled or owned factories in St. Claude, France from patterns refined over a long period of time and are usually exceptionally good smokers. Changes in Europe made reorganization necessary so after '81 GBD manufacturing was consolidated with Comoy's and moved to the Comoy factory in England. Both brands suffered quality issues as the result. What many have come to believe is that although 1981 was the formal date of the reorganization pipes produced around that period often represent a mix of pre and post stummels. As a rule GBD pipes are hard to date beyond a range of years but the pre/post Codogan boundary is the most significant one effecting quality. I have a significant number of pre-Codogan GBDs and I think they are some of the finest smoking pipes I own. Enjoy, you'll seldom, if ever, be disappointed with an old GBD.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Enjoy, you'll seldom, if ever, be disappointed with an old GBD."
I will second that statement. I have a gorgeously straight grained bent large billiard circa 1970's and it really is a belter of a smoker. It actually arrived here in a bulk lot of estates via Ebay and was the only pipe in the whole lot that was unsmoked!
Regards,
Jay.

 

[ssjones]

Good summary Glouchesterman. Because of the decades long connection to Cadogan, I prefer to refer to the change as post and pre-merger.

 

[gloucesterman]

Al, you're right. It took me a while to really sort out what role Codogan played and when. Codogan existed long before the consolidation and was actually what we would think of as the subdivision of Oppenheimer that managed their pipe business. After the reorganization it became Codogan Industries, a separate entity by itself. The confusion is that both are historically referred to as Codogan. What seems to have accompanied the merger move is a simultaneous decision to down grade both brands from their former status as "Premium" pipes to compete in the middle market segment. Sadly post merger pipes by either brand were never again what they once had been. St. Claude had been producing some of the best stummels available world wide. Once that capacity was lost it could never be recovered.

 

[danielplainview]

The Century model is roughly from 1950, to commemorate the 100 year anniversary. 1850-1950.