Tag Archives: English pipes

The Loewe & Co. Derby Billiard: an Archangel a Little Damaged

by Kenneth Lieblich

Charles Lamb famously described his friend, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, as ‘an archangel a little damaged’ – and that is how I feel about this extraordinary, sterling-silver banded Loewe & Co. billiard. Just by looking at the pipe, you can tell that it comes from a bygone era. There is an elegance and subtlety to this pipe which makes it somewhat angelic – but it is more than a century old and bears the damage of a life well-lived. This is something of a grail pipe for me and, despite the wounds, I am delighted to have found it. Before we refresh our memories about the quasi-mythical Loewe & Co., let’s have a look at the marks on the pipe itself. On the left side of the shank is engraved the encircled logo of the company: L&Co. On the right side of the shank is engraved the words Loewe [over] London.W. On the underside of the shank is engraved the word Derby – the model name of this pipe, indicating it to be a billiard. We move on to the sterling-silver band. It also shows the encircled logo of the company: L&Co. In addition, it shows the letters A·D inside a rectangle. Finally, it also has a set of hallmarks which were nigh-on impossible to decipher at the start – but I did decipher some of them later in the restoration. But no need to jump ahead – I will tell you now that the hallmarks are a gothic letter ‘D’, then a somewhat-obscured lion passant, and the third is too faint to make out – but it is likely to be a leopard’s head. Naturally, L&Co. is an abbreviation of Loewe & Co. of London. The letters A·D on the silver refer to Auguste Dreyfus, whose company, Dreyfus & Co., had assay offices in London and Chester in England. The gothic letter ‘D’ corresponds to the year 1919 (as you can see in the chart below). The lion passant indicates that this is sterling silver (id est, 92.5% silver). And, assuming that the final mark is, actually, a leopard’s head, it would indicate that the object is from London. Let us examine some of the details of Loewe’s history. Pipedia provides a surprisingly long entry on Loewe’s and I heartily encourage you to read it here. However, it is worth quoting a few lines (emphasis mine):

Loewe is one of the haunting old names of British pipe-making, characteristic of an almost vanished “upper middle class” of the trade, which also incorporated makes such as BBB, Orlik, Comoy’s and GBD. Along with these brands, Loewe has long dwindled into pseudo-existence, becoming little more than a logo occasionally used by the Cadogan factory in Southend-on-Sea. But owners of older Loewes treasure them as superb, featherweight smokers, excellently crafted and with grain characteristics superior to those of many contemporary Dunhills. The Frenchman Emil Loewe founded the company, both shop and workshop, in 1856 at the Haymarket 62, London. He is said to have been the first to make briar pipes in England. Richard Hacker maintains that theatre people from the West End were among the shop’s heyday aficionados. Loewe’s spigots are especially well regarded by lovers of elegance today – they were originally introduced for practical reasons, to facilitate the production of replacement stems for customers abroad. Furthermore, there is an excellent article on Loewe pipes (and especially their dating) by Martin Farrent, which Steve reposted on this blog. You can read it here. It would appear that much of his article was used to make the Pipedia post. In any case, it is well worth reading.Let’s examine this marvellous pipe. The condition of the pipe is not ideal, but only in the same sense that a hero wounded in battle is not ideal. The stem is beautifully shaped, but heavily oxidized. There are some scratches on the stem, around the bit, suggesting that someone may have tried to sand down some ancient tooth marks. This is an orific stem – not surprising, given its age – and it’s worth reading Steve’s old blog about such stems here. Meanwhile, the stummel has some issues. There is plenty of cake in the bowl, a mound of lava on the rim, a few small nicks here-and-there, and – most notably – a crack in the bowl and a crack in the shank. Finally, the sterling silver band is heavily worn and thoroughly tarnished.Before I go on, I want to make something clear: because of the age of the pipe, I will not be making some of the repairs that I might on a younger pipe. There is something special about this Loewe – and its wounds are part of its history, part of its story.

I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. It was pretty darn dirty and I used quite a few pipe cleaners and cotton swabs.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed. I was pleased to see that, aside from the aforementioned crack, the walls of the chamber were intact and solid (albeit heavily used).My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This work revealed some notable wear, but nothing overly serious.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean. This also laid bare the crack inside the shank. Unfortunate, but it is what it is. I took the time to carefully clean and polish the silver band. I wanted to obviously remove the tarnish and grime, but without adding any wear to the already-heavily-worn band. I used some of the same pH-neutral detergent mentioned above and followed that by buffing it with my jewellers’ cloth. This worked very well and allowed me to finally decode the hallmarks, as discussed above. I have included a few detailed photos below. The marks are still hard to see, but they are there. I used a few micromesh pads (not all) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – just with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This Loewe & Co. Derby billiard looks fantastic again and I am delighted with the results. This is one pipe that I am going to be adding to my collection. Feel free to email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 4⅓ in. (109 mm); height 1⅜ in. (35 mm); bowl diameter 1⅛ in. (30 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅝ oz. (22 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.

Spiffing Up a Rare Dunhill Bruyere 32 from 1959

3 Replies

by Kenneth Lieblich

This very handsome pipe came to me from a local gentleman who was letting go of his pipes. I was charmed by this one right away. This is a Dunhill Bruyere 32 billiard pipe, with an attractive tapered, vulcanite stem. It has been stained in the Dunhill version of oxblood – and it sets off the pipe very nicely. Let’s have a look at the markings. On the left side of the shank, we see 32. Further along to the right, we see Dunhill [over] Bruyere. On the right side of the shank, we see Made in [over] England⁹. And further along we also see ① A.What do all these markings mean? John Loring’s book, The Dunhill Briar Pipe, provides many of the answers. The number 32 indicates the shape number – in this case, a billiard with a tapered bit. The word bruyere, of course, means briar, and, in this case, refers to a classic line of Dunhill pipes that dates back to 1910. The 9 found at the end of the word England is slightly raised and this indicates that the pipe was made in 1959 (see below). The encircled number one indicates that this pipe is from Group 1 – the smallest of the pipe sizes. With such a small size, these pipes tend to get damaged, over-smoked, and lost more easily. They have historically been less likely to survive intact over the years, making them uncommon. The letter A is an indication that this is from the smooth, bruyere line. As Loring writes,

1955-1960: the code is a raised, smaller then [sic] the preceding “D” and normally [but not always] underlined 5 through 0.

Most Bruyeres of the patent period will be found with an “A” stamped on the side of the shank near where the shank meets the bowl. When the Root finish was introduced in 1931 the “A” came to mean Bruyere but initially the “A” probably denoted that the pipe was of first quality.

Here is a visual representation of the dating process from Pipephil: Let’s take a closer look at the pipe’s condition. It was in surprisingly good condition, considering its age and size. The stem had only light tooth chatter and scratches – nothing major at all. Also, the oxidation was minimal. The stummel was also great. There were a few small nicks in the briar, but I was sure I could correct those. There was also some lava and/or charring on the rim top, but nothing too bad. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dirty.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This work revealed that there was a bit of charring, but very mild. I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.Having completed that, I was able to address the small nicks on the bowl. I dug out my iron and a damp cotton flannel cloth. By laying the cloth over the affected areas and applying the iron to it, the hot and moist steam can cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was some considerable improvement. It didn’t remove every dent, but it looks much better.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. After that, the tiny spots of bare wood on the rim needed to be tinted in the same colour as the rest of the stummel. I used some of my furniture pens (which is simply dye in pen form) to match the colours. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

This Dunhill Bruyere 32 billiard is a beauty and I have decided to add it to my collection. It was a pleasure to work on. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 4⅞ in. (124 mm); height 1⅝ in. (41 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (31 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is ¾ oz. (23 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 at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Bringing Some Honour Back to a Dunhill 59 Billiard

4 Replies

by Kenneth Lieblich

A gentleman in England contacted me recently about repairing a handsome, old Dunhill Root Briar billiard he had. He communicated to me that the pipe was in dire condition, but was such a good smoker that he needed it brought back to life. As always, I was game, but needed to see the pipe in order to assess the situation. Well, the situation was grave indeed – if this pipe was a person, I might have called a priest to administer Extreme Unction. In this case, however, I opted to be the ‘surgeon’ and I needed to operate. Let’s look at the markings on the pipe, so we know what we’re dealing with. On the left side of the shank, we can see the number 59 (the shape number). Next to that is F/T (which stands for ‘fish tail’ – the type of bit on the stem). Next to that is Dunhill [over] Root Briar. On the right side of the shank, we see Made in [over] England5. At least, I think it’s a five – it could be a six – and this indicates that the pipe was made in either 1965 or 1966. Next to that we see ④ R, which indicates the size of the bowl (group 4) and the R indicates that it is root briar.Oh boy – where to begin? There are very many issues with this pipe. The stem has about as much oxidation as any stem could handle. There is some calcification, and several tooth dents, scratches, and marks. Extra work will be required on this stem. Meanwhile, the stummel is really where the action is. It is very dirty inside and the bowl has a thick layer of cake. There are many scratches in the briar, a few nicks, and some notable chunks missing. There are also six burn marks on the outside of the bowl – that’s pretty impressive. There is grime everywhere on the briar and it has a grungy feel. Furthermore, there is a major and unsightly flat spot (likely an old burn) on the part of the bowl nearest the shank. Finally, there are no fewer than two substantial cracks in the bowl that run quite a distance. I say ‘…no fewer than two…’ because more cracks would be revealed in due course. Naturally, there was considerable damage to be found on the inside of the bowl too.This is an epic repair – it isn’t really restoration or conservation. Regardless, it was fun, nerve-wracking, and educational. Let’s get started! First of all, I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. Fortunately, the inside wasn’t too dirty at all – it’s just the outside that needs serious help.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. Due to the severity of the oxidation, I then repeated the scrubbing with the cream cleanser for maximum effect.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. Quite frankly, the stem is now incomparable with how it started – just look at those photos!As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed. However, there was considerable damage, heretofore undiscovered, to the walls of the bowl. We’ll come back to that in a bit.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean. I also used a dental tool to remove the gunk, old glue, and other detritus from the cracks in the bowl.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.Now it was time to get serious. I performed a close examination of the many burn marks on the outside of the bowl. The good news was that they were all quite superficial – there was no deep burning of the wood. The bad news was that there were so many, and they would remain as an interesting detail in this pipe’s history. The two original cracks were now clean – and there were now two more cracks on the opposite side of the bowl. Coupled with the major flat spot I mentioned earlier, this was severe damage and was going to require significant work to salvage. Here is a photographic survey of what I was dealing with. I decided to repair the tiny cracks in the briar next. Before anything else, it is imperative that I ensure that the cracks do not continue to creep after I repair them. To that end, I took a micro-drill bit, inserted it in my rotary tool, and very carefully drilled a hole right through the wall of the shank. That hole will stop the crack from progressing. As you can see, the drill bit is incredibly thin and quite prone to snapping if great care is not taken.The next step is to line these cracks with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. To prevent the adhesive from dripping into the bowl, I lined it with a piece of duct tape – because cyanoacrylate adhesive does not stick well to it. Applying the adhesive neatly and cleanly is not important at this stage – but being thorough is!Having completed that, I moved on to repairing the grievously damaged interior of the bowl. Prior to my customer’s ownership, this pipe was heavily smoked and not cared-for as it should have been. There are heat fissures throughout the bowl and have resulted (obviously) in the cracks migrating to the outside. To fill damage like this, I used an epoxy adhesive that is extremely hard, resistant to high temperatures, and completely inert when cured. It worked superbly. I filled the affected area with the epoxy and let it cure for a full 24 hours.I had a long discussion with my customer in England about how to proceed in addressing the large flat spot, the remnants of the cracks, the chunks missing, etc. – in other words, how do we want the pipe to look in the end? The fact is that there isn’t any all-encompassing solution to this pipe’s aesthetic woes. Having said that, the best of a bad set of options was to round off the top of the pipe and make it look even all around. We know that the cracks will always be there; we know that the burns will always be there; but we can at least do this and make the pipe better. I used my rotary tool and removed some material. I progressed with sandpaper and, below, you’ll see a series of photos which document some of this procedure. Following that, I roughened up the epoxy’s surface (inside the bowl) with 220-grit sandpaper for the next step. I thinly coated the inside of the bowl with a mixture of my wife’s homemade yogurt and activated charcoal. Once hardened, this provided a good, faintly rough surface for a new cake to build. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. The gentleman from England and I did discuss the possibility of staining the briar – but ultimately decided against it. We felt that stain would not hide the damage well anyway, so why not lean into the scars and accept them. This isn’t quite kintsugi, but it did remind me of it. So, for the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – despite the difficult circumstances.

All done! This Dunhill Root Briar 59 billiard pipe has had a remarkable transformation and it’s hard to believe that it’s the same pipe – perhaps some would say that it isn’t. I am pleased and proud of the work and the results – I certainly hope my customer will be pleased too. 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 at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.