Georg Jensen Pipes - Models, Shapes, Info, and Mysteries

[Hammer&Pipe]

I have a
Georg Jensen
ARSPIBE 2008
Its a sleek black elegant pipe. 2" deep bould. Very slender.

 

[Alejo R.]

What podcast? Do you have a link to it?

Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 394

Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 394! Our featured interview tonight is a return visit with Per Georg Jensen. Most pipe enthusiasts know Per from The Mac Baren Tobacco […]

pipesmagazine.com

 

[kcghost]

Yes, I do recall the episode. It was quite good, as are all the Per Jensen podcasts. Per is rightfully very proud of his father but sometimes a son's fame can obscure the parent's.

 

[Scottmi]

Yes. The episode may be three years old or more.
Mike S.

the episode is around #400 or maybe a few before or after that. Just listened to it recently.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Finding its way to me ; a Georg Jensen Straight Grain Signature grade 13 pipe :


Mesmerizing grain; I feel so chuffed

 

[huntertrw]

The pipesmagazine.com Radio Show featuring the interview with Per George Jensen is No. 436, and aired (Interneted? ) January 19, 2021.

 

[Ryan]

I have one that just says Jensen (capital J others letters small) centered over MADE IN DENMARK. It is also stamped 95 with no other stampings on the pipe. It is hard to see the stamping in the photos, I did the best I could.

 

[AirOne]

Recently bought one fireflame for a very fair price. Love the grain and the open draw

 

[rokerdepipe]

I have a couple of Georg Jensen pipes in my collection as well. Great little pipes for the money.

My first experience with them was when I was a new pipe smoker and ordered a pipe from FF Pipes in Denmark. A Stanwell Duke and a Georg Jensen 1989 Year pipe - a billiard that was very slender and sleek. First time I'd heard of them and then had to find out they were not part of the jewelry side of the house.

 

[rokerdepipe]

I have two Georg Jensen pipes. One is a ‘Straight Grain’ pipe, and the second is stamped, “Brass Band” and is in the Stanwell Duke shape.

 

[dingdong]

i have 3 GJs - an orange, flame grain and a royal navy. different vintage as you can see from stamping. the orange seems most modern maybe. all good smokes, the bent being very good for clenching

 

[filmguerilla]

I have a couple GJ's in a stack billiard with Cumberland style stem. Great smokers and elegant looking. I love watching videos of Per Georg discussing blends, etc.

 

[Danish Estates]

I have a 2009 Arbspipe. It is also a mystery to me that they closed in 2001, but there is a 2008 and now a 2009 annual pipe on this thread. Thank you all for recommending the podcast with Per.

 

[OzPiper]

Only one which I bought sometime in the 1970s

When I got my pipes out of storage a few years ago, it was the most caked up pipe of the lot.
Either it was my favourite pipe
OR I’d smoked a lot of goopy aromatics in it

 

[Rudi]

I just discovered this thread, to add, I have many of the signatures, about 20, I will add some here, and yes, they are on another level. I also have logo stamps of all kinds, and more, silver inlay, gold filled etc.

 

[PipeHäbēəst]

I'm a bit of a collector of Georg Jensen pipes. From early on when I started smoking a pipe, I liked GJ pipes, they were on par with (or better than) Stanwell quality-wise, but were half the price. Prices of GJ pipes have gone up a bit since I started collecting, but they're still fairly inexpensive for the quality.
The only problem I see with GJ pipes is the weirdly haphazard way they name, number, and stamp their pipes. There are countless "model" names and pipes with the same name that seemingly have no relation to each other. And it's the same with the shape numbers, some have 2 digits, some 3, some 4 - and they all seem meaningless. I have a GJ "Excellent" which has grain far less beautiful than one of my Achat's. Then there are the mysterious "other" stampings - what do they mean? Who knows. I mean, I know what "straight grain" and "flame grain" mean... but what does "starline" mean? What does "de luxe" signify? Also, I've seen GJ "straight grain" or "flame grain" pipes which *really* didn't deserve that stamp. It's all quite mysterious.

Still, for a couple years, I've been trying to collect the myriad model names and decipher the shapes associated with GJ's numbers.

In this post, I'm talking mainly about Georg Jensen pipes... not any of the various secondary lines, of which there were many. The second lines that I am aware of are: White Star, North Dane, Jen Briar, Danets, and York (Monopol Briar). There may be others, but I don't know them.
Due to some copyright issues with the silversmith Georg Jensen, pipes meant for the US market are stamped only "Jensen" instead of "Georg Jensen". They aren't technically a "second", still I tend to stick to only Georg Jensen stamped pipes.

The most common "main" stamp is "Georg Jensen / Made in Denmark PIPES" but even the main logo stamp went through a few iterations. There are two "Georg Jensen" stamps in normal capital letters, the very common one, and a smaller one with a slightly different font and "Handmade in Denmark".
Here is the most common one:

View attachment 112086

Now the second one:
View attachment 112087

And then there is a "script" type main stamp, this one:

View attachment 112088

Now, I don't know the dates of these stamps or in what order they came or if they signify anything specific. But I do know there is a fourth main stamp that is *very* rare, and that is the "signature" stamp. I actually got one pipe with that stamp early on in my collecting and it puzzled me for a while. Eventually I actually saw Per Georg Jensen on Facebook and asked him about that mysterious signature. He said it was his father's and they only used it on "the very best pipes". I have two pipes with it now, and they're both exceedingly difficult to take a picture of. They're hard to find examples of online as well. But here is the best example of it I could find:

View attachment 112091

So, those are the main name stamps. Now on to the real strangeness - the models.

The model names were generally in all capital letters... but there were plenty of GJ pipes that had no model name stamp at all. Here are the model names that I have seen:
-SUNRISE
-GOODWILL
-REBILD [named after Danish woodland region]
-ÅCHAT
-72 EKSTRA
-DANIA
-GRANAT
-ANTIK
-AMBER
-WEGA
-ZENTA
-CRAZY [painted/lacquered in modernist colors resembling automotive paint - I've only seen silver and seafoam green. Also... I'd kill for one.]
-ONYX
-DE LUXE
-GRAND PRIX
-INDIAN
-REDSKIN
-FIREFLAME
-RED FLAME
-ORANGE
-ORANGE EXTRA
-ORION
-SAFIR
-SIRIUS
-HARMONY
-ARSPIBE [Rare - Means "Annual Pipe" in Danish. Always followed by a year, eg.ARSPIBE 2005 - strangly, I've read that Georg Jensen went out of business in 2001, but I've seen several ARSPIBE pipes *after* 2001, like an ARSPIBE 2008 or 2005. Also, I've often seen GJ pipes with only a year, but no "ARSPIBE". For example, I have a pipe stamped with only the main stamp and "2001" and seen others with various other years.]
-jUL [always associated with the script Georg Jensen stamp, and interesting stems - some with 3 dots or lucite stems]
-KONTRAST [with large wood circle on stem where the GJ logo usually is - GJ logo is on the other side]
-Intarsia [in script - usually has a wood accent diagonally on the top of the stem]
-ROYAL NAVY [has an accent ring at the end of shank with 3 or 4 brass stripes - I suspect that GJ planned on making a line of "Royal Navy" pipes, with some "Commander", some "Admiral", and maybe some other rank names. As it turned out, I've never seen a "Commander" stamp without a "Royal Navy" stamp... but I have seen "Admiral" stamps without the "Royal Navy" stamp.]
-Admiral [in script - has an accent ring with 4 brass stripes]
-ALU BAND [has an aluminum band]
-Brassring [pipe has a brass ring accent at end of shank - usually has the older style "Georg Jensen" stamp]
-Brass Band [in script - pipe has a brass ring accent at end of shank - usually has the script style "Georg Jensen" stamp]
-SPECIAL
-EXCELLENT
-SUPERB
-SUPREMO [Only 49 were made, to celebrate GJ's 49 years in business - they're each numbered "X of 49". I really want one.]

*Other Stamps [all in script]*:
1st Edition
Starline
de Luxe
Straight Grain
Flame Grain
Hand Cut

That's it for now. If anyone has more info, I'd love to hear it and have it added. Also, I'll try to get some information ready on the shape numbers... but that's it's own jumble of mayhem.
thanks!

I have a Intarsia 31 with a metal band accompanying the wood band in stem. I have never seen another one like it.

 

[Scottmi]

I have just one, a Georg Jensen Admiral. Cleaned up nice and smokes great!