GBD Virgin 508/1 Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

GBD was one of several prominent examples of a French pipe brand that, due to certain circumstances, became a maker most associated with classic ‘British’ pipes. Founded in 1850 by the French trio Ganneval, Bondier & Donninger, the brand was bought by English company Oppenheimer at the beginning of the 20th century, who opened factories in London and Paris to meet an increasing demand for the make’s high-quality and highly desirable pipes. Partly owing to the make’s inventive, yet traditional shapes, and partly due to the high standards of their production, GBD pipes are particularly coveted by collectors, as well as those who simply appreciate classic, well-made smoking instruments.

GBD’s Virgin was one of the make’s most renowned smooth finishes, featuring excellent grain, a light stain, and no fills, making them, in the words of one Pipedia editor, “for many years the perfect GBD.” This one is an elegant bent billiard, with genuinely extraordinary, tightly knit bird’s-eye grain around its bowl. Based on the country of manufacture stamping and the stem’s “GBD” rondelle, this pipe will have been made prior to 1980 and thus prior to the Cadogan Investments merger.

The condition is good. Minor rim darkening, slight handling marks, and one very small, superficial nick on the bowl’s right side.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.42″ / 36.06mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g