Chacom Maigret 1201 Sandblasted Large Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Chacom is one of France’s most historic and iconic makes. Its founders, the Comoy family, began their career as boxwood pipe-makers in the early 1800s, before briar had even been discovered, with Henri Comoy (of Comoy’s fame) emigrating to England in 1879 and founding the country’s first briar pipe factory. In 1922, Henri and his nephews, the Chapuis, founded the Chapuis Comoy pipe factory in Saint-Claude, France, which shortly after began producing pipes bearing the partnered families’ names – ‘Cha’ for Chapuis, and ‘Com’ for Comoy. Chacom has been the biggest name in French pipes ever since.

To an extent the Maigret is to Francophone pipe culture what the calabash is to pipes in the Anglosphere. Both are strongly associated with a beloved, fictional pipe smoking detective and both were brought to life by a beloved, real pipe smoking author. The calabash, of course, is associated with Sherlock Holmes, even if, technically, he didn’t smoke one. Jules Maigret, on the other hand, had almost as many pipes as his creator, France’s Georges Simenon, whose personal collection included over three hundred. Maigret is frequently mentioned as having several pipes on the go (or ready to go) at any one time, and though his “favorite” pipe was slightly bent, he had a deep affinity for large briars. It makes much more sense, then, that the genre of French pipes named after commissaire Maigret is one of distinctly stout billiards, typically with very generous bowl capacities. This is certainly true for Chacom’s rendition, which is somewhat like a heftier version of the famous Dunhill LB. Here we find the Sandblasted variant, which sticks to a reserved, old fashioned aesthetic, with deep ring ring grain and a thick silver collar.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original (though quite flaked) bowl coating. It comes with its original box.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 2.00″ / 50.80mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g