Tag Archives: acrylic

Restoring a House of Lords Ambassador 213 Lovat Made in London England

by Steve Laug

This smooth Lovat with an orange acrylic stem was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is a beautifully grained Lovat with a rich smooth finish. The stem is an acrylic saddle stem. The bowl is stained with a contrast of browns that give depth to the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the sides of the shank and on the left reads House of Lords [over] Ambassador. On the right side it is stamped Made In London [over] England. To the left of the stamp it reads 213 – shape number. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was a light overflow of lava on the inner bevelled edge and the rim top. There was grime ground into the finish which left the look quite dull. The acrylic saddle stem has a Crown logo on the left side of the saddle. 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 on the bevelled edge 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 finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stain combination really makes the grain stand out. I look forward to seeing it once it is clean and polished. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The white Crown stamp on the left side of the stem is also clear and readable. I turned to Pipephil’s site (www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-h3.html#houseoflords). I did a screen capture of the section on the site. It shows the stamping on the left side of the shank that matches the stamping on the topside of the pipe I am working on. The crown stamp shown on the stem I have is a lot like stamping on the stem I have. I am including the information from the side bar that says that House of Lords is a brand from Samuel Gordon and possibly a Sasieni second (J.M. Lopes, op. cit.).Brand from Samuel Gordon. Maybe a Sasieni second (J.M. Lopes, op. cit.)

I further followed the link to “Gordon” and learned that Samuel Gordon had founded the brand “GORDON” in 1910-20 eras. This is the link for Gordon brand of pipes; www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-g4.html#gordon

From there I turned to the Sasieni listing on Pipedia and scrolled down to the list of seconds that was given there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni#Sasieni_Seconds). From that information I learned that the pipe was definitely linked to Sasieni. The fourth listing in the screen capture.Now I knew I was dealing with a probable Sasieni made pipe which helps explain the stamping on the pipe including the Made in England on the shank. I did a quick search of rebornpipes and found an article on a House of Lords pipe I had restored. I have included the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/10/25/cleaning-up-a-london-made-charleston-banker/).

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 much better and had cleaned up well. The orange acrylic stem had some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button edges.The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. The logo on the left side of the saddle stem is clear and the white acrylic in the stem is in good condition. 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 Lovat and should clean up very well.I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the scratching on the sides of the bowl and shank. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to further remove the marks in the finish and to deepen the shine. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It looked much better. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the chatter and tooth marks. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It looked much better. 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 richly finished, large bowled House of Lords Ambassador London Made 213 Lovat with an orange, acrylic saddle stem is in great condition. The briar is clean and really came alive. The rich brown stains gave the grain 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 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 House of Lords Ambassador London Made 213 Lovat 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: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight is 1.27 ounces/36 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 British 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 Large bowl Aristocrat London Made oval shank Billiard

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by Steve Laug

This large, smooth large bowled oval shank Billiard pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is a beautifully grained large Billiard with a rich smooth finish. The stem is an oval vulcanite taper stem. The bowl is stained with a contrast of browns that give depth to the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the topside of the shank and reads Aristocrat in script [over] London Made. On the underside it is stamped Made In England. The bowl had a thick cake with an overflow of lava on the inner bevel and the rim top – heavier toward the back-left side of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the look quite dull. The taper stem has a Diamond A the topside. It was oxidized and 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 oxidation, 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 finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stain combination really makes the grain stand out. I look forward to seeing it once it is clean and polished. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The Diamond A stamp on the top of the stem is also clear and readable.In search of the origins of the Aristocrat, I first look in my autographed copy of Herb Wilczak & Tom Colwell’s, “Who Made That Pipe?” dated 3/3/97. Tom Colwell’s gifting of this book to “Bruce” is in April of 2001, concluding with his signature. There were several listings for ‘Aristocrat’ but only two fell within the correct UK parameters:

John Redman/Kapp & Peterson – ENGL
Comoy’s / Harmon Bros. LTD – ENGLPipedia’s entry for the John Redman Co. does not include much information. I researched this company before as being the probable English manufacturer of pipes stamped with Boston’s Tobacconist Shop, L.J. Peretti name (see: A Christmas Gift in need of a stem splice – L J Peretti Squared Shank Billiard). This restoration started a fun hobby of collecting L.J. Peretti pipes and selling many too! Here is the information. John Redman Ltd. and British Empire Pipe Co.

Other lines include Aristocrat, Buckingham, Buckingham Palace, Canberra, Captain Fortune, Dr John, Golden Square, Redonian, Richmond (not Sasieni), Twin Bore.

Former factory located at 3-11 Westland Place, Hackney, London N1 7LP

Pipephil’s entry solidified the John Redman Ltd. And British Empire Pipe Co., with the Aristocrat and the ‘A’ stem stamping (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a7.html). The side bar stated that the Aristocrat is an export brand of John Redman Ltd. 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 much better and had cleaned up well. The vulcanite stem had some remaining oxidation and some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button edges.The stamping on the top and underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. The logo on the top of the stem is clear but needs a touch up of colour. 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 sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the scratching on the sides of the bowl and shank. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to further remove the marks in the finish and to deepen the shine. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It looked much better. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with a lighter flame to lift the tooth marks. It raised them slightly. I filled in what remained with some extra strength Black CA Glue and set it aside to cure. Once it cured I carefully flattened the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper. It looked better. I promptly forgot to take photos of the stem at this point but the photos that follow these show the overall condition of the stem at this point in the process. I touched up the diamond A stamp on the top of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it cured it significantly better.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the oxidation and tooth marks. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It looked much better. 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 richly finished, large bowled Aristocrat London Made Oval Shank Billiard with an oval vulcanite taper stem is in great condition. The briar is clean and really came alive. The rich brown stains gave the grain 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 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 Aristocrat London Made Billiard 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: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight is 1.83 ounces/53 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 British 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 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.

Restoring Canadian Made Paradis Smooth 5 10 Bent Dublin Filter Pipe

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe is a Canadian Made Paradis Pipe. I purchased it from a seller in Ontario, Canada along with the John Calich pipe I restored already and wrote a blog about the restoration. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2026/03/12/resurrection-of-a-calich-hand-made-7-rusticated-billiard/). This Paradis pipe was in far better condition than the Calich and was not in need of as extensive a resurrection as that pipe. The Paradis had a moderate cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the rim top. There was darkening on the top and around the inner edge of the rim. The finish was coated with a shiny coat of urethane (seems to be something I am dealing with lately!). It was peeling on the top of the rim and inner edge. It would all need to go. The pipe was stamped on the left side and read Paradis in script. The right side of the shank was stamped with the shape number 5 10. The pipe had a rusticated leaf pattern on the left side of the bowl. The bent acrylic saddle filter stem had a lot of tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. It was stamped with the word, FILTER on the left side of the stem.

Before I started my clean up work on the pipe I wanted to remind myself of the brand and the information that was available. I knew Paradis Pipes was a Canadian pipe company, based in Montréal. I also knew that Kenneth had done a similar restoration on a Paradis Filter pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/01/31/cleaning-up-an-interesting-paradis-star-freehand-pot/). I quote from his work below:

… I turned to Pipedia and Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html) to seek out more information. Here’s some of what I found (after correcting the many spelling errors):

Paradis Pipes is the Canadian brand of the brothers Gilles and Fernand Paradis. In 1922 the Paradis family moved to the USA, when Lucien Paradis (1906-1979) was 16 years old. It was at this age that he started as an apprentice at his uncle’s pipe factory: Joseph B. Desjardins, maker of (JD) pipes, in Fall River, MA. Joseph Desjardins was issued two patents during this period, one for a new machine for making pipe stems and another for a new design of pipe reamer. The company employed 60 workers at one stage. In 1930, due to the Great Depressions, Lucien lost his job and returned to Quebec to work in the agricultural machine industry. In his spare time, be made pipes, selling them door to door. Three years later the rest of the family joined him, and Lucien founded a pipe factory with two of his brothers. The company eventually employed 18 workers and in the 1960s produced over 50,000 pipes a year, under brads like JBL, Dr. Thomas, Fernand Gignac, S.C. Pipes, New London Golfer, and Jo Thomassin. Paradis was founded in 1978, at the Salon of Quebec Artisans, and is available in tobacconists all over the country today. The brand produces 8,000 pipes a year (400 “handmade”), with Greek briar. (I have also included a screen capture of the section on Pipephil.)The pipe was in decent condition. It had been well-smoked, and the bowl and shank were fairly dirty. The bowl had some cake on the inside and a bit of lava on the rim. The crowned rim top was spotty but in decent condition other than being dirty. Meanwhile, the stem was relatively dirty. It was made of acrylic, so no oxidation to speak of, but there were tooth marks and chatter on the bit. Fortunately, no dents and no filter. I am including two photos sent to me by the seller. When the pipe arrived I took some better photos to try and capture the damaged rim top and edges as well as the dirty rustication on the leaf carved on the left side of the bowl. I think there is still the bones of a beautiful pipe under the dirt and damaged shiny coat. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the lava build up and darkening on therim top and the inner edge. You can also see the cake in the bowl. The crowned rim top looks very good under the lava coat. The stem is dirty with tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the ste ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank and the Filter stamp on the left side of the saddle stem. It is clear and readable as noted above. I sanded the bowl and rim top with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the shiny coat of urethane and the lava build up on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. I wiped the briar down arfter each sanding pad and the bowl began to look very good. I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The bowl began to look very good.I cleaned out the inside of the pipe – the shank, airway in the mortise and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was quite dirty. I find that the metal filter tenons are typically very dirty.I touched up the inner edge of the rim with a Cherry Stain pen to match the rest of the stain around the bowl and rim. It looks very good.I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the scratches and marks on the briar and rim top. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove any sanding debris. It was looking very good. I rubbed the bowl surface with Before & After Restoration Balm and worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The products works to deep clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit on the briar for 10 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. It looks beautiful with the polish. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It removed them and made the surface smooth once more.I sanded the oxidation on the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. The stem began to take on a shine.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was in great condition after the cleanup so 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. I fit the stem with a Medico paper filter and it worked well with the metal tenon on the pipe.This restored Paradis Filter Bent Dublin turned out to be a nice looking pipe. The rich medium brown stain on the pipe worked really well with the polished acrylic fancy saddle stem. I put the stem back on the bowl 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 keeping a light touch on the buffing wheel for the bowl. I 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 Paradis Bent Billiard is shaped to sit comfortably in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.45 ounces/41 grams. Now that it is cleaned up I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Canadian Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding the pipe to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

Restoring an Interesting Cigar Style Sequoia House California Horn

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on is an interesting Cigar Style or Zeppelin style horn shaped pipe. We picked it up from a seller in Delafield, Wisconsin, USA on 01/28/2026. It has a hard rubber stem and a briar shank/bowl that holds the tobacco and a screw cap on the end with five airholes in the front of the bowl. The finish is smooth with rusticated patches around the bowl and the screw lid on the end. The rustication is similar to what I have found on Custom-bilt pipes. This one had a lot of fills in the rusticated areas. These areas were darker in colour than the smooth finish. The shank end cover unscrews from the wooden threads on the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bowl and reads Sequoia House {over] California. The bowl had a light cake in it and some darkening on the inside of the cover and bowl internals. He took photos of the five-hole cap on the bowl cap. It is cleanly drilled and open. He removed the bow cap and took a photo of the bowl and cap separated. You can see the debris in the bowl and the darkening on the inside of the rim cap. There is a light cake in the bowl. He captured the condition of the stem. It is quite clean – light tooth chatter on both sides. He took a photo of the side of the bowl and cap to show the rustication on the surface of the briar. You can see the putty in the fills on the bowl sides. He captured the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads as noted above. The stamping is faint in spots but is still readable as noted above.There was nothing on Pipephil’s site or on Pipedia about the brand so I did a general search on Google for the Sequoia House California brand. I was able to find a listing and map for a pipe shop in Fresno, California call Sequoia Smoke Shop on 6060 N. First St. I am including the link to the map and the information on the site (https://www.smokeguideusa.com/shop/sequoia-smoke-shop-fresno-ca).

At the top of the search AI had gather information on the brand and the shop. Click on the “information” link above. I have included the information below.

Sequoia House

smoking pipes were made by Cy Pruner, who operated Cy Pruner’s Sequoia Pipe Shop in Los Angeles, California.

Based on historical advertisements from the late 1940s, here are the key details regarding Sequoia House pipes:

Maker: Cy Pruner

Location: The shop was located in the Farmer’s Market at 3rd & Fairfax in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details:

Handmade Pipes: Sequoia House pipes were marketed as “Hand Made Pipes”.

Materials: They were crafted using “Choice Aged Imported Blocks”.

DIY Options: The shop also sold these imported blocks for “Home Craftsmen” to make their own pipes.

Related Products: Cy Pruner also produced a companion tobacco line known as Sequoia No. 3 Tobacco, which was noted for its “Natural Aroma”.

There was also a link in the summary to Pipe Lovers Magazine and I went through it and found a reference to Sequoia House – including both the pipes and tobaccos that were available on the site. The advertising is from the 1940s so that fits with what I am estimating on the age of the pipe in hand. I have included the advertisement below for your reference. Here is the link to Pipe Lovers Magazine (https://pipedia.org/images/f/f1/PipeLovers-Feb48smaller-file.pdf). Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim cap to show both how clean they were. The rim cap and bowl look good. The stem was probably hard rubber and it has light chatter in the surface but it is clean.I took a photo of the stamping on the side of the shank on the left side of the briar ahead of the stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I took a photo of the threads around end of the pipe with the cap removed. The threads are in great conditon. You can also see the putty in the rusticated patterns on the bowl sides. It is a unique looking pipe.I used a Black Sharpie Pen to touch up the putty fills in the rusticated portions on the pipe. It blended in quite well.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. The sanding blended the black stain on the rustication into the surface and they looked very good. I polished the rim cap and bowl sides 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 Sequoia House California Horn with a hard rubber taper stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain and the dark rustications around the bowl worked well with the smooth taper stem. The flat rim cap and bowl look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the 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 Sequoia House California Horn 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: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.55 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 American 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.

This is a unique and beautiful Savinelli Octavia 138 Italy Octagonal 6MM Filter Billiard

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by Steve Laug

This particular mixed finish, octagonal shape Billiard has rusticated on 4 of 8 sides of the bowl and the underside of the six sided shank. It was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful mixed finish Billiard with an octagonal shank and stem flowing into a taper. The rim top and shank are smooth and stained with a rich brown. It is stamped on the top left side of the shank and reads Savinelli [arched over] Octavia. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the Savinelli Shield S logo followed by the shape number 138 [over] Italy. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the inner edge of the rim top. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. The acrylic taper stem has the Savinelli Shield S logo stamped on the top side of the stem and Hand [over] Cut on the underside. The stem was a 6mm filter stem. It was dirty and 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. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake and what looks like a moderated cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the light tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the mixture of rusticated and smooth grain around the octagonal bowl and hexagonal shank. It is unique looking Billiard and is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above.I paused in the work on this end to look up information on the Savinelli Octavia line on the Pipephil site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli3.html). I went through the various section on the site and there was nothing on the site on the Octavia line. There was some great information on the history of the brand but nothing specific on this line. Take some time to read it.

I then turned to Pipedia to see if it had any specific information on the Octavia line by Savinelli (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). It is a great read and worth taking time to go through it. It is a great history article but it does not have any information on the Octavia line.

I did a google search for Savinelli Octavia 138 and came up with the following link to the Savinelli site (https://www.savinelli.it/rw_en/savinelli-octavia-nera-138-p133b-138.html). The site had a description of Octavia and some helpful information.

Octavia is a Savinelli series of the 90’s available in three models 138 (straight), 438 (half-bent), 638 (bent), faceted on both the bowl that on the shank, as well as faceted acrylic stem. Very complex and particularly processing in order to highlight the edges of the facets. Smooth black finishing with ivory color band. Model 138 is a straight Billiard, designed with 8 facets on the bowl and 6 on the shank.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and the Savinelli Shield S logo on the top side and Hand Cut on the underside of the hexagonal stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I polished the smooth rim top and smooth bowl sides 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I fit the clean 6mm filter tenon with a Dr. Perl 6mm filter. I touched up the stamping on the stem top and underside with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick and buffed off the excess with cotton pad. It was in great condition after the cleanup so 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 Savinelli Octavia 138 Octagonal Billiard with an acrylic taper hexagonal stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain and the depth of the rustication around the octagonal bowl sides and bottom and hexagonal shank and stem. The flat rim top and bevelled inner edge look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the 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 Savinelli Octavia 138 Billiard is very nice 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 39 grams/1.27 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 Italian 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.

A Fascinating, Rugged Finish on a Direttore di Mauro Armellini Italy Rusticated Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 03/06/2025 from a seller in Macon, Georgia, USA. It is a deeply rusticated Dublin with a flumed rim top and top edges. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Direttore [over] di [over] Mauro Armellini. On the junction of the stem and the shank it is stamped Italy with the bottom edge of the stamping on the stem. The pipe is a Dublin with an acrylic shank extension that combines black and a brass ring. The acrylic saddle stem is dirty with some tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. There is an Armellini white dot enclosed in a brass circle on the top of the saddle. On the underside of the saddle it is stamped HAND [over] CUT. The heavily rusticated rim top thick with lava overflowing from a thick cake in the bowl. The exterior of the pipe had some oils and grime ground into the bowl sides under a shiny varnish coat. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was heavy lava in the rustication on the rim top and inner edge. I am hoping that once the lava is removed the edge will be okay. The stem looked good under the dirt and grime. It had some light tooth marks or chatter. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the details of the heavy rustication that was around this bowl even though the grime on the finish hides it some. The pipe had obviously been well loved and enjoyed by the previous pipeman. He took photos of the left side of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is faint in spots but is still readable in the photos below as noted above. The stem had a large Armellini white Dot surrounded by a brass circle on the topside and a small stamp HAND [over] CUT on the underside. I decided to hunt down a bit of background on the brand before I started my clean up on the pipe. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a7.html). It had a great summary listing and photos. I did a screen capture of the section and the side notes and have included them below.After Mauro Armellini passed (1936 – † 2004), his daughter Vilma Armellini answered for the brand’s destiny. Seconds: Mauro, Converti

For more detail on the brand than the notes above gave me about Armellini, I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Armellini). I quote:

Mauro Armellini and Vilma Armellini. Courtesy of italianpipemakers.com

Mauro Armellini factory has born in 1960. When he was 24, my father decided to begin this business and after several difficult years, he was able to produce freehand pipes for foreign markets. Our factory has always been on the surf(?) because it has solid bases: quality and price.

I have always worked with my father and when I lost him, back in 2004, I had to learn to “walk on my own two legs”.

Someone called me “white fly” because I am probably the only women in Italy making pipes. I only work with briar which has been seasoned for at least one year; I think that after one year of seasoning the briar becomes old and dark. I prefer hand crafting, using only very few machines: in this way I am able to extole my predilection for freeforms.

Over the sale of pipes, I think that this work should transmit the genuineness and love for the pipe and for those who smoke it; The philosophy of the factory is the same that moves my work: quality and price

Mauro Armellini stands for the true meaning of self-made and self-taught pipe makers. He started his pipe making career back in the early 1960s, working at the famous Italian pipe factory “Rossi”. Years later, and when the Rossi factory shut its door, Armellini moved to Savinelli where he stood out immediately. He perfected the rustication technique and till today some of the most famous rusticated finishes, such as the “Roccia” and the “Corallo” exist only thanks to him. He worked for Savinelli for several years and till the day he realized that he decided to create his own workshop and make pipes under his own name. At those times, and in spite of the fact that the pipe market was huge, it was a big risk to start his own pipe brand, due to the costs involved and the difficulty of obtaining the right equipment and tools.

Once the name Armellini found its rightful place on a piece of briar, Armellini never looked back. Thanks to his friend and neighbor, Alberto Paronelli, he was able to attract foreign markets, such as the US one and that of other European countries. Armellini’s four daughters slowly and gradually became involved in the business by lending their dad a helping hand whenever possible. However, it was Wilma that became truly interested in the business and gradually became her father’s right hand, not only in the administrative aspect of the business, but also, and above all, the actual pipe making in all its various stages. Indeed, and many years later, Armellini retired from full-time pipe making, and it was Wilma who took over.

When Armellini passed away recently, it was natural, and yet very difficult, for Wilma to decide and continue the Armellini production, according to her father’s own standards and vision. What encouraged her is the fact that for over 20 years she had been making pipes, from A to Z, and so, she knew that the quality Armellini has always been known for could and would continue.

Today, in the small town Barasso, in northern Italy, Wilma and her 20-year-old son are running the workshop and producing all of the Armellini pipes. Matteo, Wilma’s son, is an enthusiastic young man with a love for pipes and pipe making that he could have only inherited from his grandfather. He’s determined to carry on and keep alive his grandfather’s pipe making tradition while creating new shapes and finishes that he is confident his grandfather would be proud of.

Today the name Armellini bears the dreams, the dedication, the passion, and the pipe making talent and expertise of three different generations, united by one objective: Offering the best pipes possible, out of the best material possible, at the lowest price possible. The legacy lives on …

Jeff did a great job cleaning off the debris and grime on this old pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet reamer and smoothed the walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim and shank with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. Once the grime was removed the finish underneath was in stellar condition. The rich patina of the rusticated briar looked great. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and edges to show how well they had cleaned up. The flume around the rim top and sides looks very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts to show the proportions of the pipe. It is a beauty.There were spots of shiny varnish left on the shank, rim top and bowl sides. I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone on a cotton pad and was able to remove the varnish spots and leave a cleaner natural finish. I went over the rustication on the rim top and the fluming down the outer edge of the bowl with a brass bristle wire brush. Once I cleaned it up it looked better. I restained the fluming on the top and rim sides with a Walnut Stain Pen. It worked well. I polished the acrylic shank extension and the tarnished brass band on the end with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads and polishing it with some Obsidian Oil on a cloth to remove the debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoebrush to work it into the heavily rusticated briar. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the tooth chatter. The pipe stem was looking very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Direttore di Mauro Armellini Italy Rusticated Dublin back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish, browns of the bowl. This Direttore di Mauro Armellini Italy Rusticated Dublin was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 51 grams/1.76 ounces. This pipe will be going on the Italian Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

New Life for an Edwards Algerian Briar EF1 Handmade Pebble Rusticated Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Pebble Rusticated Dublin that Jeff picked up on 03/08/2025 from a seller in Macon, Georgia, USA. The finish is pebble rusticated on the rim top and around the bowl and shank. There is a variegated purple twisted shank extension on the end. The bowl had rich mixed browns stain all around it. There is a smooth ring around the outer and inner edge of the rim top. It is a great looking pipe. It is stamped on the heel of the bowl and the underside of the shank and reads Edwards in script [over] Algerian Briar [followed by] CF1. It is stamped Hand Made at the shank stem junction. The finish was dirty and had a lot of grime and grit ground into the rustication around the bowl. The rim top and inner edge of the bowl is dirty with a heavy lava flow on the edge and in the rustication of the top. There is a thick cake in the bowl. The rose-coloured acrylic saddle stem is dirty and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. It showed a lot of promise. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show this thick cake in the bowl and heavy lava coat in the rustication of the rim top. Hopefully the cake and lava had protected the inner and out edge of the rim. The photos of the stem show the chatter and tooth marks on both sides. The next series of photos show the condition of the finish on the bowl. The pebble, or coral rusticated finish that Edwards put on the pipe was worn but quite unique. The rim top showed some different style of rustication. There was a smooth ring around the shank end ahead of the acrylic shank extension. The next photos show the stamping on the underside of the shank of the pipe. All of it is clear and readable. Across the board Edwards pipes were all Algerian Briar and all were unstained waxed or oiled briar. I remember reading that actually oil curing was a feature of their pipes. I did a quick look on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Edward’s) and found that I was correct. I quote:

Edward’s pipes were originally produced in St. Claude France when France actually was a world-class pipe maker with longstanding business & political connections to Colonial Algeria that allowed them to obtain the finest briar.

During the tumultuous 1960’s, Edward’s created a business model to offer the finest briar available in both Classic and Freehand shapes – all at a fair price. They bought the company & equipment and cornered the market on the finest, choice Algerian Briar just before the supply vanished in political turmoil of Algeria’s independence. Edward’s packed up both machinery and briar-treasure to America, safely caching the essentials to create a new pipe-making dynasty. This was a coup, for the 70’s and 80’s were grim years for pipe smokers as quality briar all but disappeared.

All of Edward’s pipes are Algerian Briar – a fact very few pipe companies can claim, and all are oil-cured utilizing natural finishes – no strange concoctions are used to interfere in your tastebud’s dance with the briar. Algerian, Calabrian, Sardinian, Corsican – take your pick, but Algerian Briar is generally considered the finest smoking briar ever used. When combined with oil-curing, Algerian takes on a magical quality that even Alfred Dunhill recognized as far back as 1918 as the choice for both his Bruyere and Shell.

With that information on the brand in hand I turned to the pipe. Jeff had cleaned the pipe well which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. Once it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I brought it to the table. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show how clean it was. You can see the rustication on the rim top and the ring around the inner and outer edge of the rim. The rose acrylic stem looked good just some light tooth chatter and marks near the button. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It read as noted above. It is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded out the light tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper to remove them. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the scratching and remaining tooth marks and chatter. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. The stem is looking very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect the stem from UV and slow down future oxidation. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have been working on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always the satisfaction that it does indeed look better than when Jeff and I picked it up. I put the Edwards Algerian Briar Pebble Rusticated Dublin back together and carefully buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished uniquely shaped Edward’s Rustication looks like along with the polished fancy rose coloured acrylic stem. This is an interesting Pebble Finish Edwards Dublin and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.87 ounces/53 grams. 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 Pipes from American Pipe Makers Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

New Life for a 1982 GBD Virgin L Made in London Bent Apple

2 Replies

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is an English made oval shank bent Apple with a classic brown finish. It is a combination reddish brown stains. The pipe came to us from a seller in Downey, California, USA on 08/12/2025. The pipe is very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The rim edge looks good but it was hard to know what was under the lava coat on the top and edges. It is stamped on the underside of the shank. It is stamped GBD in an oval, [over] Virgin L [over] Made in London in a circle [over] England [followed by] 1982. The shape is a classic GBD shape number 788 though the this pipe is unnumbered. The finish was dusty and there were oils and grime ground into the finish around the sides of the bowl. The stem had a GBD brass oval logo on the top of the saddle. It is a variegated brown acrylic saddle stem with grime on the surface and light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the pipe. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a build up of lava on the smooth rim top. It is also built up on the inner edge of the bowl. The stem photos show the grime and the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the finish on the pipe. It is a unique stain on it that really shows the grain around the bowl sides. He took two photos to capture the stamping on the sides of the shank and one of the medallion on the top of the saddle stem. It is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to PipePhil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-gbd.html) to see what I could find. The site had nothing particular on the GBD Virgin line of pipes.

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD) to see if there was info the brand. It is a great read in terms of history.

The claims after the 1st World War demanded further distinctions. First of all was the London Made, which became the Standard London Made, followed by the New Era– in 1931 the top model asking 12½ Shilling. The Pedigree, although sketched around 1926, was not produced until the later 1930s. The New Standard was introduced in order to give the popular Standard of the 20s a higher rank in value. The Prehistoric, a deeply sandblasted black pipe, that still carried the small GBD Xtra stamp, was entirely new and unusual.

There was a photo of the GBD Virgin but no other information on the line. I am including the photo that was present as well as a photo of the stamping on the pipe.There was also some information on the line in a section entitled, Circa 1973 chart of lines. I am including the information in that section. The first item in the list is the line I am working on. It gives a good description of the Virgin line.

Virgin: “Only the finest of closely grained briar is utilized for this exceptional pipe. Natural finish”

Century: “A golden finish created to celebrate over a century of manufacturing the finest briar pipes.”

New Era: “The beauty of this pipe’s perfect briar is accentuated by the richness of the ‘take-off’ dual finish.”

Prestige: “This pipe features a black handcut perspex mouthpiece which precludes discoloration and ‘bad taste’ after continual smoking. Only the finest of the fine-grained bowls are selected for this handsome matt virgin finished briar.”

Prehistoric Perspex: “The deep sandblasting sillhouettes the grain in bold relief. The crystal clear mouthpiece creates an attractive contrast to the deep dark finish.”

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish on the bowl looked really good when I got it. The rim top and edges looked very good. He soaked the twin bore stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer bath to remove the oxidation. The stem looked better and the deep tooth marks and chatter on the surface were also visible. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked much better than when he found it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the condition of the rim top and stem before I started working. The rim top looks good and the bowl is clean. The stem is much better but still shows some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. I took the bowl and stem apart and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. I sanded the bowl and rim top with 320-3500 grit 2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to blend in the tooth chatter and marks. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil saturated cloth to remove the grime and protect the stem.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I wiped it down again with some Obsidian Oil and let it sit and dry. I always look forward to the moment when all the pieces are put back together. The GBD Virgin Bent Apple makes a final trip to the buffing wheel and is met first with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. That is followed by multiple coats of carnauba wax over the whole pipe. Then I do a step that not everyone does but I learned from one of the old pipe men who no longer with us, I buff the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. Finish my buffing by hand with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with black vulcanite stem. This richly stained 1982 GBD Virgin L Bent Apple is light weight and ready for you to load up a tobacco of preference and enjoy. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/1.69 ounces. This is one that will go on the British Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your rack. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.