By Al Jones

This ebay purchase is only the second “Royal Comoy” to land on my workbench. This one is the shape 17, called the Kruger in the Comoy’s catalog. I don’t find much on the Royal Comoy line and I can’t find any examples in catalogs of that shape. Before WWII, the Royal Comoys was a high grade, later replaced by the Blue Riband. After the war, it seems from price lists, they dropped to a mid-grade line. The Country of Manufacture stamp on this one indicates it was made in the 1950’s to the merger in 1981.

The stem was oxidized, but otherwise in excellent condition with a perfect drilled C stem logo. The bowl was equally in good shape, and the beveled bowl edge was intact. Below is the pipe as it was received.

I used a piece of worn scotch brite to remove the mild build-up on the bowl top. I removed the oxidation on the stem with wet sandpaper, 600, 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grades. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars plastic polish. The bowl was buffed with White Diamond and several coats of carnuba wax. I soaked the bowl with sea salt and alcohol.

Below is the finished pipe. I was surprised to discover that it passes a thin pipe cleaner, unusual for a pipe with such a deep bend.