GBD Virgin 1451
England, 1950-70s
One of the top graded GBD pipes. The Virgin series followed their famous Pedigree, Prodigy and Straight Grain grades. The pipe was made in the 1970s latest, before the merge with Comoy’s by Cadogan. An extraordinary sample! Firstly, the pipe has a significantly extended stem, though it’s a Canadian (or a lumberman, to be absolutely exact). Probably, only GBD was able to afford such a free understanding of shapes :-). Secondly, the pipe is made of very unusual briar: it’s extremely firm, hard for polishing and other procedures. A very interesting finding!
The pipe markings are “(GBD) \ VIRGIN”, “LONDON ENGLAND \ 1451”. The length is 16.6 cm (6.54″), bowl’s height is 4.8 cm (1.89″). External diameter of the bowl is 3.5 cm (1.38″), internal diameter is 1.9 cm (0.75″). The depth is 4.3 cm (1.69″) and this pipe weights 40 gr. Briar, vulcanite stem, no filter. The chamber has been protected with a break-in coat.
