Becker Limited Edition 30 Years 03/60 Rusticated Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

The Becker family is one of Italy’s most renowned pipe-making lineages. Beginning with the painter, sculptor, and WW2 British intelligence officer Fritz Becker, the Becker name became synonymous with Italian high-quality pipes after Fritz was discovered by Giorgio Musico, a pipe-maker himself, and owner of a popular pipe shop in Rome. Both Fritz and Giorgio had sons, Paolo Becker and Massimo Musico who learned pipe-making from their fathers and would go on to collaborate in making the famous Becker & Musico pipes, before parting to return to making Becker pipes and Musico pipes once more. Paolo passed away in 2014, but his son, Federico continues to make Becker pipes, to continued acclaim.

This is a very special Becker pipe, for a number of reasons. First, though, some background is needed:
Aside from those made in collaboration with the Musico family, it is very rare to find a Becker pipe that can be traced definitively to a specific year of manufacture. Differences in style and grading schemes can give pointers as to eras for a pipe, and by extension which of the Becker family might have crafted it, but these pointers can only take us so far. In this instance, however, we have a year helpfully stamped on the pipe: 1986. So, the pipe is from 1986, right? Well, kind of. See, thanks to former Becker importer R.D. Field, I was able to find out that this Becker belonged to a limited edition (hence the “L.E.” stamp) series of just 60 (hence the “03.60” stamp) pipes, sold in 2004 at that year’s Chicago Pipe Show. The pipes had indeed been made in 1986, being dressed in the famous Becker style rustication that had been retired in the decades since, but a small number of these pipes that had remained with the Beckers since their manufacture were now available again—albeit for a select few. The “30 Years” stamp should make more sense now, as it was 30 years prior, in 1974, when Fritz Becker and Paolo Becker had first taken up pipe making as a committed vocation. As Fritz had already passed away over a decade before Paolo came to the 2004 Chicago Pipe Show, this was a rare opportunity to pick up one of his works, and it would seem that this opportunity was seized upon very fast indeed.

The condition is good. Some darkening and wear to the rim, and general finish fading, but nothing to stop it being a true Becker classic.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.63″ / 41.40mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g