James Upshall Empire Series Tradition Smooth Magnum Dublin w/ Cumberland Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

James Upshall was, along with Ferndown and Ashton, part of a new wave of British hand-made, high-grade pipes in the late 20th century, with their founders largely coming from previous positions in the factories of companies such as Dunhill and Charatan. James Upshall was founded in 1978 by Barry Jones and Ken Barnes, both of whom had previously worked for Charatan and who had worked their way up to being carvers Charatan’s higher-end, non-standard shapes. Jones and Barnes’ pipes quickly grew to being something of a status symbol, and were enjoyed by King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat, Bing Crosby, Yul Brynner, Robert Wagner and Tom Selleck. The company also made house-brand pipes for Astleys in London, along with many of the other major makes of the era. James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes continues to endure.

The Empire Series of James Upshall pipes was exclusively for magnum-sized pieces (or “pocket magnum,” at the very least), and were furthermore exemplars for the mastery of the workshop’s craftsmen when it came to shaping and to chasing the finest grain patterns around. This necessitated so much time and energy per pipe, as well as the large, consistently high-quality blocks of briar needed to make them, that production was extremely limited, and prices—especially at the workshop’s peak—were exceedingly high.

This Dublin rendition is certainly of the proportions one would expect from the Empire Series, though it’s also a little different to others of its kind. The “Tradition” grade was typically dressed in a chestnut tan finish, much like the “A” grade pipes that were introduced in the 1990s. This one, on the other hand, is essentially a super-sized “S” grade, wearing as it does the classic midcentury-style plum finish that the “S” was distinguished by. It works very nicely here, especially when taking into account the other uncommon thing about this pipe: its mouthpiece. While the majority of James Upshall pipes featured vulcanite mouthpieces, a small number were, for a time, fitted using hand-cut, red and black brindled cumberland rod—albeit with a significant premium attached. Strange? Yes, relatively speaking. Beautiful? Also yes, with no qualifications needed.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some slight, superficial scratches on the bowl and slight, residual oxidation on the mouthpiece.

Details:

Length: 8.2″ / 208.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.97 / 24.63mm

Bowl Depth: 2.32″ / 58.92mm

Weight: 4.5oz / 128g