Blog by Al Jones

I found this nifty City de Luxe Shape 357 in a box of estate pipes at my local shop, JB Hayes in Winchester VA.  City de Luxe pipes are made by GBD and the 357 “Prince” shape is a classic.  I find the brass star logo to be as attractive as the GBD rondell (and easier to work around!).  At first glance, I thought it would be an easy restoration.  But, after getting it home, there appeared to be a scorch mark on one side of the bowl.  Like many City de Luxe pipes, this one had a twin bore stem and was stamped “Tuskan Lip” with a Patent number.

I tackled the scorch mark on the bowl first.  A worn 6″ x 3″ sheet of 8000 grit Micromesh removed the mark without altering the profile of the bowl or bowl top.

The stain was lightened in that area so I decided to restain it a darker brown, using Fieblings Medium Brown at full strength.  After the stain was applied and set with a flame, I set it aside to dry completely.  I then buffed the stain down to a lighter color with some White Diamond, while being careful to stay away from the excellent nomenclature.

The stem only had minor teeth marks and was an easy restore.  I had to avoid the stamping on the underside of the stem. I started with 800 grit wet paper, moving thru 1000, 1500 and 2000 grades.  8000 and 12000 grade micromesh sheets were next, followed by a light buff with White Diamond rouge.

Here’s the finished pipe.  It was sold to a pipe forum member who owned another City de Luxe “twin bore” stemmed pipe.