By Al Jones

It appears that I’m on a Sasieni roll to start out the new year! My second Sasieni restoration for the day, this one a Regent shape in the Ruff-Root finish. I was delighted to unpack this one, as I had never seen a Regent shape first hand. The seller didn’t include any size references and I assumed it would be of the larger variety, like the the Stratford, Viscount Lascelles, etc. As someone who enjoys a smaller sized bent billiard, this one is perfect at 35 grams. The pipe was inaccurately listed as a “4 Dot” but thankfully a good nomenclature picture was included. Others may have noticed as there was a flurry of bids at the end of the auction. I was fortunate to prevail by a few dollars under my maximum bid.

The pipe was as pictured below, in excellent condition. A good snug stem, no bite marks or any other issues. There was some build-up on the bowl top, a heavy cake and an oxidized stem. Even on the oxidized stem, the blue dots were brilliant and it was one of the nicest Sasieni stems that I’ve seen in quite a while. This pipe was made between 1946 and 1979 (the Family era).

I reamed the cake and soaked the bowl in sea salt and alcohol. Following the soak, I removed the build-up on the bowl top with a piece of Scotch-Brite. I hand buffed the briar with Halycon wax. The stem was mounted and oxidation removed with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper. I then used 8,000 and 12,000 micromesh sheets. The stem was polished with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic Polish.

Below is the finished pipe.

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