Tag Archives: Monte Verde Hand Made in Denmark pipes

Restemming and Restoring a Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from a seller 05/28/24 from Santa Cruz, California, USA. It has that verve that I have come to associate with pipe made by Preben Holm and the fellow we purchased this lot from obviously loved Preben Holm carved pipes because we acquired several from him in this lot. They are unique and beautiful. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde [over] Made in Denmark [over] by Hand [over] Golden Tan. The shank extension is a marbled green acrylic shank extension has a gold Crown MV on the top. I have refurbished several Monte Verde pipe so if you are interested in the brand here is a link to one I did back in 2019 that has a similar finish to this one (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/09/new-life-for-a-preben-holm-monte-verde-twin-finish-freehand/). It was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes in this collection. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a lava overflow on the rusticated rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was present for these photos but somehow disappeared in its journey from Jeff to me. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. He took close up photos of the bowl and rim top from different angles to show the condition of the rim top. The bowl has a thick cake that lining the walls and overflowing lava and build up on the rim top and flowing over the inner edge of the bowl onto the top. It is hard to know if there is damage or if the lava protected it. He also took photos of the stem to show the surface of the top and underside of the acrylic stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I only wished that the stem had travelled to me here. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the lay of the rustication and grain around the pipe. It is a beautiful piece of briar. It had a very unique double rustication! The green acrylic shank extension works well with it. Jeff took several photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture all of the stamping. It was clear and read as noted above. He also captured the stamp on the top of the missing stem. I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a read on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html). It confirms that the Monte Verdi line was made by Preben Holm. The pipe in the photo had a very similar rustication to the Monte Verdi I was working on. I did a screen capture of the section on Pipephil. I have included it below.   There were also photos that were included on Pipephil of what this particular pipe looked like when it left Denmark. The rustication around the bowl and shank is very similar. The pipe I have has the same shank extension and finish. The pipe in the photo had a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The stem on the one I have in front of me is missing so I will need to replace it with one similar to the one in the photos below.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

The Monte Verdi line was indeed a pipe style offered by Holm. It usually features heavily blasted and rusticated briar and smaller group sizes than some of his other lines. Some refer to this line as a “second”, but it provided an outlet for briar that had flaws and therefore unsuitable his other lines. Holm marketed many different lines featuring a variety of finishes in both stains and carvings and this is merely one of those. The ones I own are good pipes and smoke well. The blast finish is very interesting to look at and the tactile sensations make it fun to hold.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with 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 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 was able to the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little darkening in the finish on the top of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe bowl to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the rim top. You can see the spots of darkening in the rim top and some bits of lava in the grooves. I had a stem in my can that was similar to the one that was lost but was black vulcanite. With a bit of work, it would fit the shank nicely. I took photo of both sides of the stem to show its condition.I cleaned the rim top with Before & After Briar Cleaner to soften the dark spots and darkening on the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush with the product deep clean the grooves in the double rusticated rim top. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I used the slot saw and a series of flat files to shape the slot and make it a football shape. I cleaned up the shape with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the slot. It worked very well and the slot began to take on a very classic look.I worked over the tenon end with a flat file to get a snug fit into the shank extension of the pipe. It took a slight step down on the vulcanite to shape it for the proper fit. I fit it into the shank and took photos to show the look. While it was in place I heated the vulcanite and gave it a bend to match that of the original stems in the photos that Jeff sent that I included above. I sanded the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. The stem began to take on a shine. I finished working on the stem by sanding it with 32-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the repair and to remove the tooth chatter. The pipe stem was looking very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the stem with some Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside. This beautiful, double rusticated Preben Holm carved Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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 to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished swirling brown, tan, black and white Lucite stem. The finished Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.36 ounces/68 grams. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the Danish Pipe Making Section on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand Made pipe.

Cleaning up a Preben Holm made Monte Verde Twin Finish Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from an estate lot on 06/13/22 from Fort Myers, Florida, USA. It has that verve that I have come to associate with pipe made by Preben Holm and the fellow we purchase this lot from obviously love Preben Holm pipes because we acquired several from him in this lot from the IIS pipes to a Danish Pride still to come. They are unique and beautiful. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde over Made in Denmark by Hand. Underneath that there is a script stamp that reads Twin Finish. I have refurbished several Monte Verde pipe so if you are interested in the brand here is a link to one I did back in 2019 that is very similar to this one (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/09/new-life-for-a-preben-holm-monte-verde-twin-finish-freehand/). It was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes in this collection. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a heavy lava overflow on the rim top that filled in the rustication. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button but really was in quite remarkable condition. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. The next photos show a close up of the bowl and rim top as well as both sides of the stem. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The close up photos of the stem show the light tooth marks in the surface near the button on both sides. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the look the double rustication on the sides and heel of the bowl. The curved shape of the pipe makes it a tall Dublinesque Stack but the rustication gives it a tactile look that can only mean an added dimension to the pipe when it is smoked.  The next photos show the stamping on the underside of the shank and the top of the saddle stem. It is quite clear and legible. The top of the stylized saddle stem has a Crown MV stamped into the surface. It appears to have originally been gold.   I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a read on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html). It confirms that the Monte Verdi line was made by Preben Holm. The pipe in the photo had a very similar rustication to the Monte Verdi I was working on. I did a screen capture of the section on Pipephil. I have included it below.   There were also photos that were included on Pipephil of what this particular pipe looked like when it left Denmark. The rustication around the bowl and shank is very similar. The pipe I have does not have a shank extension but otherwise the finish is much the same. The pipe in the photo had a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The stem on the one I have in front of me is the original stem on the pipe and it is a fancy double saddle pearlized acrylic or Lucite stem.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

The Monte Verdi line was indeed a pipe style offered by Holm. It usually features heavily blasted and rusticated briar and smaller group sizes than some of his other lines. Some refer to this line as a “second”, but it provided an outlet for briar that had flaws and therefore unsuitable his other lines. Holm marketed many different lines featuring a variety of finishes in both stains and carvings and this is merely one of those. The ones I own are good pipes and smoke well. The blast finish is very interesting to look at and the tactile sensations make it fun to hold.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with 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 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 was able to remove most of the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little remaining in the depths of the rustication. He cleaned out the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. He scrubbed the surface o the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser. The stem looked very good. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove almost all of the tar and oils but there was some deep lava in the rustication at the back of the rim. The Lucite stem had light tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface. The swirled browns, tans, blacks and greys of the Lucite looked good with the variegated browns of the briar.   I also took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is very clear and readable. You can also see the scratches in the smooth finish of the area in the photo below.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts. It is a nice looking pipe with the flumed top, the rugged double rustication and the double saddle smoky acrylic stem.I started by working on the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean off the remaining lava debris on the rim top. I was able to remove all of the remaining debris and the rim top looked really good. The deep rustication and the second wire rustication gave the pipe a very unique look.With the rim top cleaned I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rustication but I was able to work it in. I used a shoe brush to make sure it was deep in the grooves. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening and lava are gone. I am very happy with the results.  I set aside the bowl at this point and turned my attention to the stem. I repaired the tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the glue cured I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the stem surface. I polished the sanding marks with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The photos tell the story. I touched up the stamping on the saddle portion of the stem with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I let it dry in the stamping for a bit then buffed it off with a cotton pad. It looked much better. The MV was legible and the crown looked good. The side of the M was a little faint as the stamping was worn. I polished the Lucite stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish and wiped it down a last time with the damp cloth.  This beautiful, double rusticated Preben Holm carved Monte Verde Twin Finish Large Freehand is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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 to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished swirling brown, tan, black and white Lucite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.75 ounces/ 78 grams. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the Danish Pipe Making Section on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand made pipe.

New Life for a Preben Holm Monte Verde Twin Finish Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another relatively new acquisition from a collection Jeff and I purchased from Michigan. It included a pipe cabinet and 21 pipes that is pictured below. There were some nice pipes in that collection and some that I have never seen before.In looking over the pipes in the collection I pulled out several that intrigued me. The next pipe I chose to work on an interesting freehand pipe. It was a sitter with a scooped bowl leaning forward. The finish was two coloured – a dark flume around the rim top and about a ½ inch down the bowl sides and a medium brown the rest of the way around the bowl. The stem was a swirled Lucite in tans, browns and blacks that was cut for the freehand bowl. It had a crown on the top of the saddle with an MV below. The rustication on the bowl is very rough and then has what appears to be a wire rustication over the top of the original one. The grain shows through the rustication and it looks like the wire rustication follows the flow of the grain. It is shown in the photo of the rack above – it is identified at the left side of the second shelf of the rack by the red oval around it.

There was something about the pipe that made me think of Preben Holm carved freehands. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde over Made in Denmark by Hand. Underneath that there is a script stamp that reads Twin Finish. It was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes in this collection. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a heavy lava overflow on the rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem had some tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button and some tooth damage to the sharp edge and top of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. The next photo is a close up of the bowl. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. He also took photos of the side and bottom of the bowl to highlight the condition of the pipe and the beauty of the rustication and finishing. It was a dirty pipe and obviously it was another favourite pipe because it is so dirty and caked.   The next photo shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is quite clear and legible.  The top of the stylized saddle stem has a Crown MV stamped into the surface. It appears to have originally been gold.The close up photos of the stem show the tooth marks in the surface near the button and the damage to the button itself on both sides. The tooth mark on the underside looked like a bite through but I was glad to see it was not.Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with 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 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 was able to remove most of the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little remaining in the depths of the rustication. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove almost all of the tar and oils but there was some deep lava in the rustication at the back of the rim. The Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface. The tooth marks on the underside appeared to go through the stem but I was glad to see that it was just a deep mark. The swirled browns, tans, blacks and greys of the Lucite looked good with the variegated browns of the briar.I also took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is very clear and readable. You can also see the rustication style on the shank in the photo. It is an interesting looking piece of carving.Somewhere in the back of my mind rattled a memory that the brand was associated with Preben Holm of Ben Wade fame. It seemed like I had seen it listed on Pipephil’s site when I was working on Ben Wade and Preben Holm pipes. Now it was time to check that out.  I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html) to check out my memory. Sure enough it was indeed a Preben Holm pipe. I have included a screen capture of the listing on the site.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

The Monte Verdi line was indeed a pipe style offered by Holm. It usually features heavily blasted and rusticated briar and smaller group sizes than some of his other lines. Some refer to this line as a “second”, but it provided an outlet for briar that had flaws and therefore unsuitable his other lines. Holm marketed many different lines featuring a variety of finishes in both stains and carvings and this is merely one of those. The ones I own are good pipes and smoke well. The blast finish is very interesting to look at and the tactile sensations make it fun to hold.

Now I knew the connection. I was working on a Preben Holm made pipe and it was an interesting one to work on. I started by working on the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean off the remaining lava debris on the rim top. I was able to remove all of the remaining debris and the rim top looked really good. The deep rustication and the second wire rustication gave the pipe a very unique look.With the rim top cleaned I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rustication but I was able to work it in. I used a shoe brush to make sure it was deep in the grooves. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening and lava are gone. The striations and rustication look really nice with the new finish. I am very happy with the results. I set aside the bowl at this point and turned my attention to the stem. I repaired the damaged areas on the edge of the button and filled in the tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the glue cured I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the stem surface. I polished the sanding marks with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The photos tell the story. I touched up the stamping on the saddle portion of the stem with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I let it dry in the stamping for a bit then buffed it off with a cotton pad. It looked much better. The MV was legible and the crown looked good. The side of the M was a little faint as the stamping was worn.I polished the Lucite stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish and wiped it down a last time with the damp cloth. This beautiful, double rusticated freehand is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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 to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished swirling brown, tan, black and white Lucite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 3/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand made pipe.