INVICTA freehand

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 impetus for further development; the company became recognizable and popular. Many famous carvers worked with Invicta, including Colin Fromm, Bill Ashton Taylor, and Les Wood. Therefore, some Invicta freehands may look very familiar, and some, like this one, may surprise you; we’ve only seen a couple of John Redman pipes of this shape, for example.

Pipe markings “INVICTA \ ENGLAND”
Length 14.4 cm (5.67″)
Bowl Height 5.5 cm (2.16″)
Outside Diameter 4.1 cm (1.61″)
Chamber Diameter 2.2 cm (0.87″)
Chamber Depth 4.5 cm (1.77″)
Weight 54 gr.

Briar, vulcanite stem, no filter.

The stem adjustment is far from perfect; it does not appear perfectly centered. There is a small gap between the stem and the shank (less than 1 mm, but noticeable), and it is not possible to push the pipe cleaner through the stem all the way to the chamber.

The pipe was accurately smoked, it has been thoroughly cleaned, polished, sanitized and now is ready for a new life.