Is this a genuine GBD?

[mawnansmiff]

Hello one and all. I have here a lovely pipe that came to me unsmoked a few weeks ago that I have only recently finished working on (though 'new' it was a hideous red colour) and am very surprised that though it has the brass (?) GBD roundel on the stem there are no stampings on the pipe at all! At the very least I would have expected to see a COM or shape number but it has nothing at all.
As can plainly be seen, the grain is quite stunning all the way around which really makes me wonder why no one stamped the pipe, be it a genuine GBD or not. There are no fills or 'holes' in the pipe, just a couple of gentle knocks so I cannot imagine it would have been a 'second'. It is what I would refer to as a full size billiard and smokes just like it looks but is it a genuine GBD or just another 'no name' pipe with a GBD stem?
What say you folks?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mikestanley]

The bowl rim certainly has the look of a GDB to my eye. Looks like a very nice pipe.
Mike S.

 

[pitchfork]

That's very interesting. I agree with Mike, though, the bowl/rim certainly has the GBD "look."

 

[mawnansmiff]

It well could be one pulled from the production line before the stamping was done & went home in somebody's pocket.
Bit of a long shot Bill but I admire your imagination :wink:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[georged]

Definitely authentic. By the overall cut/profile I'd say it's on the older side, too.
The lack of nomenclature could be from somebody sanding & refinishing it who didn't know about importance of stamping to collectors (or maybe just didn't care). I've seen a number of such cases over the years.

 

[jensen]

In August 1976 my wife and I went to London.There were a tobacconist around the corner.He had a box with rejects -

that was before I knew what it meant - all with GBD roundels on the stem - nothing else, no stampings.
I found a liverpool shape with a nickel band and as I thought it could cover a split in the shank I asked why.

To make it more distinguished the man said.

The pipe was £ 5.95.No fills,no flaws,lots of birds eyes and same colour as my GBD Century(es).Wrong grading, I think.

 

[ssjones]

Very interesting and a great grain. Perhaps a line worker did notice the grain and grabbed it for their own use!

 

[gloucesterman]

That is a GBD shape (#508) although the stem bend is more pronounced than usual. The rim bevel is typical of that style. There are all sorts of reasons a pipe can get by the stamping station only one of which is misappropriation. Unstamped GBDs do turn up every once in a while.

 

[pruss]

I'm with George, in that I think the absence of nomenclature on the shank is more likely due to overzealous buffing than a failure to stamp at the factory.
-- Pat

 

[jensen]

The grand old man J.W. Cole writes in his Pipe Line no 53 summer 1987......England was rather spoilt ny the ailability of cheap pipes (end of 50ties - better qualities went to eport)and he wrote in Tobacco Europe jan/ feb

1996 ...........Generally in Britain,the notion of cheap lines still prevailed and for a few years,the production of rejects distorted the market.It reached a level of nonsense when a respected (alas no more) in London`s West End displayed a pile of such rejects in his window.

I have seen Orlik rejects stamped with a big R - BBB and Loewes with RJ and GBDs with what could seems to be

an y or a handwritten rj maybe.

You can ask,why use time to stamp a pipe which you have to sell to a lower price.

 

[jensen]

Not eport but export,of course

 

[mawnansmiff]

Be assured chaps I am not the guilty one who sanded off any stampings, they weren't there to begin with. It certainly is a bit of a mystery (thanks by the way Gloucesterman for the shape number) but this one is likely a keeper as I just love the grain and it's a great smoker to boot ::
I have quite a few pipes with no stampings at all and many of those have excellent grain. It has always puzzled me as to why someone would make such a lovely pipe yet forego 'signing' it.
The mysteries of the pipe world never fail to fascinate me.
Thanks chaps.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Having just read the Pipedia page for GBD pipes I wonder if mine could be one of their 'straight grain' pipes?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jensen]

Yes,why not.

 

[jpmcwjr]

In any event, you've got another winner!

 

[pruss]

Who would refinish an unsmoked pipe ?

Someone who wanted it to be shiny.
Smoking a pipe isn't the only way to dull a finish on a smooth pipe.
But let's look at this pipe itself... I read from the OP that the pipe was unsmoked, but those chamber walls look like they've seen heat to me. Further, the pipe stain appears to be uneven. Now, granted, this could be a function of the light or the photography, but when I see a pipe that is darker in stain around the rim and at the stem/shank connection I wonder if it has been buffed/polished. This process will leach stain from the briar.
$0.02 in the bucket.
-- Pat

 

[mawnansmiff]

Pruss, first off I do not own a buffer, second the pipe was indeed unsmoked when I got it as I will prove tomorrow with a picture of the bowl interior. I would guess I have smoked no more than 8 bowls out of it since I cleaned it up.
Any shade difference by the bowl/shank junction is simply my inability to get my fingers in there to sand to my liking. Bear in mind also, the pipe was a hideous red colour which I disliked very much, it looked too 'cheap'.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[pruss]

Ah, my bad, when I read that the pipe was unsmoked I assumed that it meant that the pictures were of the pipe in unsmoked condition. That's my error.
As to the issue of buffing and polishing; one doesn't need a buffer to do this, as you proved with sand paper. If you did indeed sand the stummel then I don't think I misread the discolouration on the pipe; further you provided another answer to Billkay's question... Someone might buff or polish an unsmoked pipe because they disliked the stain job.
Regardless, I love the shape of this pipe and hope you enjoy smoking it.
-- Pat

 

[gloucesterman]

Interesting that the color was red. That's not a GBD stain color. So there is a good possibility that George and Pruss are correct, someone at some point in time changed the color and in doing that sanded away the nomenclature. I have a Virgin in that shape and the nomenclature is all but gone. I suspect it was from buffing. The stampings were not all that hardy to begin with so it doesn't take much to erase them.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Sorry I couldn't post pictures today due to a hospital appointment :crying: though I shall tomorrow.
I will also have the stummel under the microscope to seek out any vestige of worn stampings though I would wager there are none. Also of interest, the original red staining looked like a factory job as opposed to a home job as the entire interior of the bowl was stained too!
Regards,
Jay.