Blog by Al Jones

I found this Royal Comoy 603 “sitter” in the estate drawer at my local shop, JB Hayes in Winchester Virginia.  The pipe looked in pretty good shape with oxidation on the stem and some darkening around the rim.

I couldn’t find much about the Royal grade and this one was particularly unusual in that it was only stamped “Comoy” versus “Comoys”.  The only reference point I could find was an old Ebay ad from Tony Soderman see below and the accompanying picture.  He describes the grade as below.  I find very few use of the singular “Comoy” stamping.  This pipe doesn’t feel like a Blue Riband quality grade and my selling price definitely didn’t reflect that either.  Tony uses “Comoy” and “Comoys” in his ad titles which makes the designation a little less clear.  At any rate, it is a Comoy not often seen.

Old timers know that the ROYAL COMOY was the predecessor to the fabled “Blue Riband”!!! The name is from the “old” Comoy’s Nomenclature (like “Prima,” “Grand Slam,” “Old Bruyere,” “Lions Head” and so on). Those pre-date the more familiar modern grading (like “Selected Straight Grain,” “Blue Riband,” “Specimen Straight Grain” and so forth). While the Blue Riband was NEVER Comoy’s highest grade, the ROYAL COMOY originally appeared as the absolute top-of-the-line Comoy in the late 1930’s! (ALL pre-World War II Royal Comoy’s were top-of-the-line pipes!) The Royal was “downgraded” only though the addition of higher grades (much like Charatan did indirectly downgrading their top-of-the-line “Supreme” through the addition of higher grades)! Shortly before World War II, Comoy replaced the ROYAL COMOY with the Blue Riband (at the same time as they introduced the Specimen Straight Grain). The ROYAL COMOY reappeared after World War II and was always a HIGH GRADE Comoy – – – either at or near the TOP-OF-THE-LINE!!!

The stem had some mild teeth chatter that I knew would be an easy fix.  The famous three-piece drilled “C” stem logo was missing the black, center rod.

I reamed the bowl and gave it a soak with alcohol and sea salt.  While the bowl was soaking, I soaked the stem in a mild mixture of Oxyclean and water.  I put a dab of grease over the stem logo to protect if from any further damage.

After soaking, I used a worn piece of 8000 grid to remove a majority of the darkening around the rim.    Later, with the bowl was polished with White Diamond rouge and a few coats of carnuba wax.

I added several layers of black superglue with a needle to fill the empty center drilling.  After it was slightly overlapping the hole, I sanded it smooth with some 2000 grit wet paper.  I was very pleased with the result.

The stem was mounted and I removed the oxidation with 800, 1500 and 2000 grit wet paper.   Next, I used the 8000 and 12000 grades of micromesh.  The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars plastic polish.

The pipe was purchased by a gentleman in Japan, who has told me he reads this blog.  I hope he enjoys this neat little Comoy.