Daily Archives: March 19, 2026

Savinelli Nonpareil 9604 Oom Paul

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Say hello to this beautiful Savinelli Nonpareil 9604 Oom Paul! I have had this pipe in my collection for a while, but it’s time to let it go. It’s a gorgeous piece of briar with a handsome horn shank extension. This Oom Paul is very attractive, but I need to send it out into the world. You can now buy this pipe for your collection and enjoy it. No restoration story this time, but a quick view of a lovely pipe. This pipe promises to be a great smoker.

Let’s look at the markings. The left side of the shank reads Savinelli [over] Nonpareil. Despite Savinelli being an Italian company, the word nonpareil is French and means “without equal” – literally, “not the same”. On the left side of the shank is the lovely Savinelli crown, next to which are the marks 9604 [over] Italy. Finally, there are two brass dots on the left side of the stem – a very nice touch.

Savinelli is one of the most recognized names in pipe smoking and they have a long and storied history. You can read about them from their own website or from Pipedia’s article about them. I was particularly interested in learning more about the Nonpareil line. I checked with Pipephil and they did have a bit of information, which I display below. I learned from Pipephil that old Savinellis used to have four-digit shape numbers, newer ones three. The exceptions to this rule, however, are the Nonpareil and Dry System lines.This Savinelli Nonpareil 9604 Oom Paul is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Italian’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 4⅜ in. (159 mm); height 4¾ in. (120 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (37 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2½ oz. (71 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Fatte a Mano Sumerler Rusticated Bent Brandy

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by Steve Laug

This particular rusticated Bent pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is a beautiful, deeply rusticated Bent Brandy with thin black acrylic insert ahead of the shank end visible in the photos below. The deeply rusticated bowl is stained with a contrast of browns that give depth to the rustication. It is stamped on the left side of the shank on a smooth panel Fatte A Mano [over] Sumerler. At the right end of the smooth patch it is stamped Italy. The bowl had a moderate cake with an overflow of lava in the rusticated rim top – heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the look quite dull. The bent acrylic stem has no logo stamped on the surface on either side of the stem. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava in the rusticated surface of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rusticated finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The black band inlaid on the shank is a great highlight in the briar of the shank. He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. Before I started working on the pipe, I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if I could learn anything about the Fatte A Mano Sumerler brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s13.html). There was a photo a Sumerler pipe that has the same stamping as the one I am working on. I did a screen capture of the pertinent section and have included the side bar information below the photo. Pipes with this brand are sometimes carved by Armellini.

It appears that the pipe was made by Armellini in Italy and sold as a sub line or second line to Armellini main work.

I looked up the Sumerler on Pipedia to see if I could gather further information on the company (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Armellini). The notation in Brands and Makers section took me to the article on Armellini. There was no reference there to Sumerler. It gives some great history.   

It was time to work on the pipe. As usual Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. He dried it with a soft cloth. The pipe looked good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The finish on the rim top looked very good. The acrylic taper stem had light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges.The stamping on the left side of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nice-looking rusticated Brandy and should clean up very well.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the rustication. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This deeply rusticated Sumerler Bent Brandy with a thin black acrylic band mid shank is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The polished acrylic taper stem is in great condition. The briar is clean and really came alive. The rich brown stains gave the rustication a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Sumerler Bent Brandy is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight is 2.19 ounces/62 grams. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for following the blog on this restoration.

Restoring a Beautiful Swan Neck French WFC Mystery Bent Billiard with a Horn Stem

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by Steve Laug

This beautiful swan neck bent Billiard is next on the table. We purchased it on 01/28/26 from a seller in Delafield, Wisconsin, USA. It is a beautiful large Bent Billiard with a lovely horn stem and bone tenon that screws into the shank. The bowl is dirty and had a thick cake in the bowl and a thick lava coat on the rim top. The shank end of the bowl had some darkening at the junction of the stem and shank. It easily could have had a thin brass band on the shank that left behind the stain. The finish on the bowl was worn and dirty. The stem was worn and oxidized with tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem. The only stamping on the shank was W.F.C. in script. There were no other identifying marks on the shank and the stem. It was not a recognizable brand and some of the folks I spoke to suggested it might refer to the previous owner’s initials. I suppose there is no way to know that for sure but it is very similar to quite a few French made St. Claude older bent billiards with the same shape and stem connection. It is a real beauty that should clean up very well. Jeff took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its condition and beauty. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top of the bowl. It is really a well used pipe that obviously had been someone’s favourite. The photos of the stem show the condition of the surface and the bone tenon. Jeff took photos of the bowl and shank from various angles. You can see the grain in the briar in each of the photos below. It is a great piece of briar with nice grain that follows the shape. He took a photo of the initials on the left side of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above. It definitely looked like it was stamped rather than etched and is quite clear. Are they someone’s initials or are they initials of a company.It was time to work on the pipe. As usual Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on the pipe. He cleaned up the reaming of the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. One of the benefits of this scrub is that it also tends to lift some of the scratches and nicks in the surface of the briar. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He scrubbed the stem surface off with Soft Scrub and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The finish on the rim top looked spotty. The vulcanite saddle stem had light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges. The stamping on the underside and left side of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. There was a stamp on the left side of the saddle was readable but the white in the stamp was gone. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nice-looking long shank apple and should clean up very well.I took some photos of the darkening around the shank end of the pipe. It appears that the darkening could have come from a tin shank band. I will work on it and think about the possibility of adding a new band to it. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I carefully worked around the stamping on the shank side. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I blended the repair into the surrounding briar and polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the rusticated portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth chatter and the marks in the stem surface. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil soaked cloth. It began to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Large French Made WFC Bent Billiard with a horn stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain worked well with the smooth taper horn stem. The rim and bowl look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I screwed the horn stem back on the shank and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Large Swan Neck WFC Bent Billiard is unique and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 8 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 81 grams/2.89 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the French Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Repairing and Banding a Cracked Shank on a Chacom Nougat France 275 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

I received an email from Jay regarding a repair on a Chacom pipe that he had. He sent me the following email.

Hello!

I was referred to you by the fine folks over at City Cigar here in Vancouver.

I am looking for a silver band to try and fix a pipe that has developed a small crack in the shank. Would you be able to help me? I’m local to Vancouver so I could pick up from you if that helps.

Thank you!! Jay

He was first asking about a band for the pipe but I have learned that fitting a band is hardly a formula of measurements. It seems rather to be a matter of hand fitting a band to the shank. I explained that to him and suggested that he bring it by. He sent me photos of the measurements of the shank and included a photo of the pipe and of the crack on the underside of the shank. It was a crack that he said happened the second time he smoked the pipe when new. Jay dropped the pipe by on the weekend and we chatted about the repair. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table today. It is a pretty pipe with a nougat coloured acrylic stem. The bowl and shank were very clean. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Chachom [over] Nougat. It was also stamped on the underside of the shank and read Made in France in a rhombus and underneath that it bore the shape number 275. The crack on the underside of the shank was about an inch long and with the stem in place was quite wide open. It went between the 2 and 7 of the shape number and proceeded up between the F and R of France and through the M in Made. Jay had given the stem a slight bend and it looked very good. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean and pristine the condition the pipe was in. The stem was a great acrylic Nougat colour that was also in pristine condition with no tooth marks or chatter on the surface.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the logo on the stem. They were clear and readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the bowl and the stem.I looked up the Chacom Nougat on google and found a listing for this exact pipe on the site of Victory Pipes (https://victorypipes.ca/shop/shop-tobacco-pipes/chacom-pipes/chacom-nougat-tobacco-pipe-shape-275/). I have included the description of the pipe below.

The Chacom Nougat No 275 is an elegant briar pipe with a small bowl, a shiny brown finish and a nougat-coloured acrylic stem.  Lightweight and straight, this briar pipe has a comfortable feel in the mouth. The original billiard bowl gives it a vintage and charming style. Has a smooth, shiny brown finish. Includes a reusable metal “stinger” filter. Comes in a Chacom cardboard gift box with a branded cotton bag.

Now it was time to work on the crack on the shank. Jay’s photo shows the length and flow of the crack so I am including it below. I cleaned out the crack with some alcohol on a cotton swab. I used a microdrill bit to put a tiny hole at the end of the crack. It is visible in the photo below. I used a tooth pick to run a bead of clear CA glue in both the pinhole I drill and the length of the crack. Once it was in place I squeezed the crack together and let the repair harden. The CA dries quickly so it did not take to long. I then put some white glue on the inside of a brass band and pressed it onto the shank end to hold the repair together. Once the band was set and the repairs had hardened I carefully sanded it smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I followed up on that with a 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth it out.Once I smoothed out the repaired I polished the area of the repair and the brass band with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. Once I finished the polishing the repair looked very good and the band also began to really shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the wood. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I let it sit and absorb into the briar and then buffed it off with a soft cloth. I finished the repair on the cracked shank on the Chacom Nougat 275 Billiard and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl, brass band and the stem with Blue Diamond on a buffing pad and following that by giving the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is a beautiful pipe. It will be heading back to Jay later this week. Have a look. Thanks.