GBD (Pre-1980s) Speciale Standard 1345 Smooth Poker (Unsmoked Estate)

GBD was one of several prominent examples of a French pipe brand that, due to certain circumstances, became a maker most associated with classic “British” pipes. Founded in 1850 by the French trio Ganneval, Bondier & Donninger, the brand was bought by English company Oppenheimer at the beginning of the 20th century, who opened factories in London, Paris, and Saint-Claude to meet an increasing demand for the make’s high-quality and highly desirable pipes. Partly owing to the make’s inventive, yet traditional shapes, and partly due to the high standards of their production, GBD pipes are particularly coveted by collectors, as well as those who simply appreciate classic, well-made smoking instruments.

The Speciale was a series of pipes introduced quite early in GBD’s history, first being manufactured in the make’s Paris factory, before French production was shifted to Saint-Claude in the mid-20th century. Finely grained and lightly finished, they were very much true to their name, as this bird’s-eye-decked squat poker can attest. As this is a French production GBD, and as it features the make’s famous metal “GBD” rondelle inlaid in the stem, it would seem to be a pre-1980s production pipe, made prior to the Cadogan Investments merger of the early 1980s.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some slight scratches on the bowl, though nothing major.

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.15″ / 29.21mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g