By Al Jones

It has been several months since I’ve had a pipe on the workbench. Its been too hot down here in Southern Louisiana, despite two fans in my garage/workshop. We had a few degree reprieve in the past few days with humidity almost bearable. So, I tackled this GBD 269 bulldog that I found on Ebay.

This is only the second Prestige finish GBD that I have worked on. My GBD literature describes the finish as having a natural matte finish with a Perspex mouthpiece. The finish is not shown in my 1969 price list and I can’t find any catalog examples. My other Prestige model had a vulcanite mouthpipes as does this pipe (which is my preference). The 269 shape is shown in a 1969 catalog as an Oversize Bulldog with flat saddle mouthpiece. This one weighs 54 grams, which is consistent for the shape.

The pipe was in excellent condition. It has some mild build-up on the beveled bowl top, a very slight cake and a lightly oxidized stem with very little chatter and an excellent button. The stem edges were very crisp with perfect bead lines. Below is the pipe as it was received.

I used a piece of worn scotch-brite pad to remove the build-up on the bowl top. I finished the bowl top with a wet piece of 2000 sandpaper. The bowl was reamed and soaked in sea salt and alcohol Following the soak, the bow shank/draft hole was scrubbed with a bristle brush dipped in alcohol until the brush wiped clean.

The stem was mounted and polished with 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet paper. It was then buffed with White Diamond rouge and Meguiars Plastic Polish. The bowl was lightly buffed with White Diamond and several coats of carnuba wax. Below is the finished pipe. Other than a few handling marks, it is nearly new and will join the other shape 269 in my GBD collection.