GBD Sir Jeffrey 954 Smooth Liverpool Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

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 and Paris 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.

I must say, when this GBD landed on my desk, I said to my wife, “if I made pipes, I would stain them like this.” It is a genuinely gorgeous – not to mention distinct – blood orange sort of hue, which works wonderfully to bring out the bird’s-eye and cross grain patterns covering its stummel. The shape is a Liverpool, which isn’t so common these days, but which was once an established staple of pipe-making. It is a fittingly traditional piece from a make that helped create such traditions in the first place.

The pipe is also completely unsmoked, with a factory-original bowl coating to help ease in its first smokes. It has one or two fills that have worn out over time, but there is nothing else of note as regards its condition (it is unsmoked, after all). The pipe also comes with its original box and sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.77″ / 44.95mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g