Michel Naturals (by GBD) 1351 Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Michel pipes were store-brand pipes made for Maison Michel, a North Carolina (USA) tobacconist run by Michel J. Mitchell between 1951 and 1980. Over the years, several prominent pipe-makers made pipes for Maison Michel, such as Charatan, Barling, and others.

As I’ve explained in a few other listings, while I’ve encountered house-brand pipes from Maison Michel that were attributable to Barling and to Charatan, it’s only recently that I realized that some of them were also made by GBD. Having a very distinctive Michel pipe come in with the shape code 1350, which just so happened to perfectly match GBD’s own shape 1350, I now check all of the numbered Michels against GBD shape charts. The last Michel with a shape code was a 255 Canadian 255, which was a perfect match for the shaping and dimensions of the GBD 255. This 1351 saddle Dublin also happens to match up with GBD’s 1351 Dublin shape, which just about seals that connection in my mind. Additionally, given that Maison Michel closed in 1980, and that this Michel was made in France, that would make it essentially a pre-Cadogan GBD, as far as the common periodization goes.

This pipe is also completely unsmoked. There’s a couple of small, worn out fills, but nothing major.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.68″ / 42.67mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g