Wellington Pipe

[PApiper63]

I have so many pipes(about 150 in my personal collection) and have restored well over 500 for resale or trading. I find something meditative about restoring a "no hope"pipe to good, smokable condition. However, I made the decision last year to only buy pipes that I plan to resell or trade because my personal collection has become a bit unwieldy.
But, what can I say… I am weak.
This past weekend, I was cruising through an antique store and saw this pipe, sitting sad and dejected in a case. It was WELL SMOKED! There was significant cake buildup in the bowl , some rim charring, and the briar looked dirty. But I felt with a little work. It could be a nice pipe and I don't own any of that shape. They were asking $25 for it and I offered them 20 and they gladly accepted.
I brought it home and did the standard stuff to it. I reamed and sanded the bowl, lightly drilled some of the buildup out of the shank, cleaned the shank and stem with many alcohol dipped, bristle pipe cleaners, and sanded both the briar and the stem with micromesh sandpapers. After an overnight alcohol/salt treatment I rinsed out the bowl, waxed the stem in the briar and let it dry out for a few days. I took it for a test run this morning by loading it with some Bullseye Flake. It is a large bowl and it took me nearly 2 hours to smoke it.
The pipe is a Wellington and has the stamping " French Made" on the briar.(or at least I think that's what it says.)
On the stem, it is also stamped Wellington and has the initials WDC in a triangle.
I am retired so I like to light up a large bowl after breakfast, catch up on some reading and contemplate the meaning of life. This inexpensive pipe fills a niche in my collection.
I did all the standard research on the Wellington brand, but I'm wondering if any of you own a Wellington and find them to be good smokers?

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

I’ve owned several WDC system pipes including many Wellington. They tend to be decent smokers.

I’ve sold most of my WDC systems to make room for more Pete’s but I’ve kept one. A large system just like yours that I made new acrylic P-Lip stem for as I wasn’t overly fond of the long WDC stem.

 

[khiddy]

I have a beat-up smaller estate Wellington pipe that I enjoy, it's very similar in size and shape to a Peterson System 314. I occasionally bid on larger Wellies via eBay, trying to snag one of those long-stemmed beauties, but haven't yet won one at a price that I consider reasonable. There were a few at NASPC this past weekend, but they were priced too high for me (and most of my budget was dedicated to tobacco anyway).

My Wellie:

 

[orlandofurioso]

I own one ( or two, I do not recall ) and this one is a beauty for sure; mesmerizing birdseyes etc.
Never smoked such a beast though.
The huge stems always seemed a little clunky to me; Fletch did a great job on his; immense improvement and a wonderful choice of acrylic.

 

[Briar Lee]

I have so many pipes(about 150 in my personal collection) and have restored well over 500 for resale or trading. I find something meditative about restoring a "no hope"pipe to good, smokable condition. However, I made the decision last year to only buy pipes that I plan to resell or trade because my personal collection has become a bit unwieldy.
But, what can I say… I am weak.
This past weekend, I was cruising through an antique store and saw this pipe, sitting sad and dejected in a case. It was WELL SMOKED! There was significant cake buildup in the bowl , some rim charring, and the briar looked dirty. But I felt with a little work. It could be a nice pipe and I don't own any of that shape. They were asking $25 for it and I offered them 20 and they gladly accepted.
I brought it home and did the standard stuff to it. I reamed and sanded the bowl, lightly drilled some of the buildup out of the shank, cleaned the shank and stem with many alcohol dipped, bristle pipe cleaners, and sanded both the briar and the stem with micromesh sandpapers. After an overnight alcohol/salt treatment I rinsed out the bowl, waxed the stem in the briar and let it dry out for a few days. I took it for a test run this morning by loading it with some Bullseye Flake. It is a large bowl and it took me nearly 2 hours to smoke it.
The pipe is a Wellington and has the stamping " French Made" on the briar.(or at least I think that's what it says.)
On the stem, it is also stamped Wellington and has the initials WDC in a triangle.
I am retired so I like to light up a large bowl after breakfast, catch up on some reading and contemplate the meaning of life. This inexpensive pipe fills a niche in my collection.
I did all the standard research on the Wellington brand, but I'm wondering if any of you own a Wellington and find them to be good smokers?View attachment 410291View attachment 410292

That’s French Briar—-it was made by WDC in the USA.

That pipe is the 11” top of the line Giant model. I own three.

Clean it up and you have the ultimate smoker—the best—-huge Pre 54 Algerian briar system pipe.

Just be prepared to not smoke it in public.

Owww Dude—— Sherlock Holmes—-Where’s Watson—-Huu Huu Huu .

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

Looks beautiful! Do you have any photos of the BEFORE condition you could post? If so, we could tell even better how much work went into the rejuvenation.

 

[xrundog]

I have some Wellingtons. The oldest is probably this big one with a rounded nickel cap that is stamped French Briar. Pre 1920 I think.



This one is likely of similar age. It's just stamped: Wellington. Early on the Wellington came in a variety of shapes.



The carved Imported Briar pipes are probably 30s-40s.



This one has an Italy stamp on the back of the shank and a pug nosed P-lip. It's a late one, maybe 60s-70s.