By Al Jones

This unqiue GBD was posted unrestored,last year on the “GBD Collectors Thread on PipesMagazine and caught my attention. I was recently delighted to find it for sale on Ebay and fully restored. I won the auction and after receiving it, I realized that I knew little about the Militaire finish. This pipe is sandblasted and in the 9240 Squat Straight Bulldog shape.

GBD Collectors Thread – PipesMagazine.com

Google didn’t yield any additional information on the Militaire finish but the few pipes I discovered were all sandblasted (typically “Prehistoric” grades). By GBD standards, the blast is very good.

The seller (303_pipe_restoration) did a great job on the pipe and it came ready to smoke. I’m typically not happy with most stem restoration work, but this one was excellent. I used some high grade micromesh on the stem and then polished it with Meguiars Plastic Polish as I feel it helps retard oxidation. The bowl was very clean and there was no ghosting.

The pipe is stamped “London, England” and has the brass stem rondell, which indicates it was made prior to 1981. The pipe weighs an amazing 30 grams and is easily the lightest of any GBD in my collection.