Chacom Europe 168 Smooth Apple 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.

I have a feeling this pipe will appeal to a very specific audience and I also think I know where that audience is to be located. While the name of the line this Chacom belongs to is simply “Europe,” its design is clearly related in some way to the European Union. That blue stem inlay, with its twelve gold stars, mirrors the flag used by the European Union and its predecessors since  1955, albeit with a slightly lighter hue than the flag itself. I’ve a feeling this pipe will have been made around the 1980s or 1990s, however, as that’s when the flag started to be widely adopted by EU member states. Of course, it’s a very nice looking pipe in itself, with a reserved, dark grey stain offset by its blue and gold accents, I just have a hunch that whoever buys it will be from 1 of 27 specific countries (or 28 if we include steadfast British “remain” voters). Perhaps I should see if my colleagues want to take bets.

The pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some slight scratches around the bowl, but nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.45″ / 36.83mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g