England, 1960-70s According to pipedia, George W. Sims used to work for Charatan’s (that is clearly visible of some Sims pipes) and for Barling (that is also not excluded). But finally he found himself as an independent tobacconist and an owner of a little shop in Northern London, which existed till 1980. “G.W. Sims was…
England The pipe with the old, rare, and intriguing English name is, in fact, a proud member of the Dunhill family. Founded in 1900, the Masta Patent Pipe company, like Hardcastle, was acquired in 1946 by Parker (a subsidiary of Dunhills) and was wholly incorporated into Parker Hardcastle Limited until 1967. Since then, all three…
England Herb Wilczak and Tom Colwell mentioned two manufacturers of Highgate pipes: L. Orlik Ltd and Comoy’s. However, if you look at the stampings, there is no doubt: this Serif font on Comoy pipes cannot be confused with any other. The pipe looks like Comoy’s answer to some of the innovative American and English brands…
England A unique upper-grade pipe from the John Redman pipe factory in London. The finish is well-known today for Ian Walker’s incredibly beautiful “Northern Briars Oriental” pipes. However, as we can see, the idea is much older, and it was implemented at least a few decades before. Pipe markings “REDONIAN \ DE-LUXE \ LONDON MADE”Length…
England, 1950-70s Nice, well-preserved, and comfortable classical English bulldog pipe from the great London tobacconist, which has sold pipes, cigars, and tobacco since the 1870s and offered a wide range of products made by famous English manufacturers such as Barling, Charatan’s, Loewe, Sasieni, and Orlik until the 1980s. Pipe markings “Bewlay \ REJECT \ LONDON…
England, 1960s The Londoner line was introduced after the acquisition of the Barling family business by Imperial Tobacco. However, after some time, the production of most pipes, including the Londoner series, was moved to other countries such as Italy, Denmark, and France. Therefore, our pipe is quite rare because it has been made still in…
England The Invicta Briars website says, ‘Handcrafted Briar Pipes Since 1935,’ although the Invicta brand was born in 1974 when Colin Leeson bought and reorganized Medway Pipe Repair, based at Chatham Docks on the River Medway in Kent (from where, in fact, the former name of the company was Medway Briars). This was a significant…
England, 1980s By a fortunate coincidence, William John Ashton-Taylor was born in 1945 in a house next to Alfred Dunhill’s factory. It seemed like only a matter of time before he would become an apprentice in a factory at the age of 14 (Bill was still in school). Over the next quarter-century, Bill climbed through…
England, 1950s This is a pipe from Charatan’s second-highest grade, just below the highest grade known as “Supreme.” It appears that this pipe was made before 1960, as the shape number is situated alongside the nomenclature on the left side of the shank, similar to how it was done on pipes from the “family era.”…
England, 1960 A very fine example from the top-grade Dunhill series. Typically, the absence of the year suffix suggests that the pipe was manufactured in 1960, as indicated by some experts, unless it falls within a patent period. However, the most intriguing detail of this pipe is the expertly replaced shank. The quality of the…