BBB Own Make Extra Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

‘BBB’ originally stood for ‘Blumfeld’s Best Briars’, so named after Louis Blumfeld after he took over the historic Alfred Frankenau Company in 1856. Later, the pipes came to be known as ‘Britain’s Best Briars’. Though the name might have changed, the quality of the pipes did not – they really were fantastic pipes, made in the classic style of the English-French shape chart. Like GBD, Dunhill, and Barling’s, BBB are pipes with a rich history behind them, proudly holding the title of “the oldest trade mark in the [pipe] industry.”

“Own Make” is a funny thing to call a pipe, isn’t it? Well, as with all things, there is a reason for it. That reason is quite simple. In the old days, BBB had two basic quality grades: those pipes made by BBB’s own factory in London, and those pipes imported from elsewhere and simply stamped with the BBB nomenclature. The pipes BBB made themselves were the higher quality, and the imported pipes were the lower quality. Over the decades, BBB vacillated between calling their top quality pipes “Own Make” and “Best Make.” I guess that’s marketing for you. This particular BBB is an Own Make Extra, possibly due to the excellent grain patterns it bears and minimal stain it wears, or possibly due to its larger size.

The condition is very good. Some inner rim darkening and a couple of worn out fills.

 

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.54″ / 39.11mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g