I started collecting Brigham pipes almost accidentally – my dad smoked Brighams, so it was natural that my first briar was also a Brigham – and the collecting began in earnest several years ago when I embarked on the Brigham Shape Chart project. Since then, I have managed to catalog over 80 vintage Brigham pipe shapes, adding about 60 of these shapes to my personal … Continue reading Adding a Brigham Shape 49 Bent Apple to the Collection
I found this Harcourt (made by Preben Holm for Dunhill in the late 1970s and early 1980s) on a recent wander through a local antique mall and couldn’t pass it up. This pipe has beautiful lines – a long, slender bowl shaped like a Tulip flower, plateaux rim and shank end and lovely vertical flame grain. The briar was in very good shape. The stem, … Continue reading Refreshing a Beautiful Harcourt B Freehand Tulip
A recent eBay purchase left me wondering about the habits and motivations of a certain subset of old pipe smokers, specifically those that seem to show no care or concern for maintaining their favourite briar companions. The eBay lot was made up of five old Brigham pipes which included both high end and entry level briars. Curiously, the 1 and 2-Dot pipes in the box … Continue reading Reclaiming a Trashed Brigham 720
I replenished my refurb box with about a dozen new-to-me estate pipes recently. Among the new arrivals was this Brigham 6-Dot Bent Pear. In many respects, the pipe arrived on the worktable in excellent condition – the stem was like new, without any chatter or tooth dents or even oxidation; the majority of the stummel was in similar tick and looked like it would polish … Continue reading Rim Rescue for a 1980’s Brigham 659 Bent Pear
A few weeks ago I wrote about restoring a Pre-Republic Peterson Shamrock Canadian; I acquired this Shape 120 Dublin at the same time. This Shamrock was in about the same shape as its brother had been before I worked on it – dirty, with a heavily oxidized P-lip stem and a thick crust of lava covering the entire rim. The stem, showing a fair amount … Continue reading Rehabilitating Another Pre-Republic Peterson Shamrock
This rather worn-looking Brigham Sportsman is the last of the pipes I found on my birthday pipe-hunting excursion back in December. The pipe had certainly been well enjoyed by its previous owner, though I’m not sure exactly how much care it was given. This “rough and ready” approach to pipe maintenance is somewhat to be expected when talking about a Sportsman pipe, as Brigham marketed … Continue reading Reviving a Hard Smoked 4-Dot Brigham Sportsman Shape 42
Today’s pipe is an interesting dive into the history books. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did! I’ve had this John’s Silver Mount pipe in my refurb box for some time but rediscovered it just before Christmas when I was sorting through things in the shop. The stamps are rather worn, so I didn’t really know what I had until I … Continue reading A New Stem and A New Life for a 1930’s John’s Silver Mount 433 Dublin by Comoy
