BBB Select 304 Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.”

‘Select’ series of pipes typically indicate a higher grade offering from a make. This rule would appear to hold for BBB, if this particular pipe is anything to go by. It is a very traditional bent billiard in the English style, but it also has beautiful grain patterns, especially the bird’s-eye around the bowl. The stain is light and natural, which allows these patterns to shine through, and the design is completed by two golden bands and a simple, vulcanite stem. Judging by the brass ‘BBB’ rondelle in the stem, along with the nomenclature, I would estimate that this BBB was made before 1980 and before the make’s merger with Cadogan Investments – giving it a little extra collector’s value.

The pipe is also completely unsmoked and comes with its original box and sleeve. What more could one want?

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.78 / 19.81mm

Bowl Depth: 1.52″ / 38.60mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g