Michel (by GBD?) Selected Smooth Cutty Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Michel pipes were store-brand pipes made for Maison Michel, a North Carolina (USA) tobacconist run by Michel J. Mitchell between 1951 and 1980. Over the years, several prominent pipe-makers made pipes for Maison Michel, such as Charatan, Barling, and others.

In one or two of the last Michel listings I put out, I realized that, rather than Charatan or Barling, they were very clearly GBD pipes—or, rather, that GBD made them for Maison Michel. If you know anything about GBDs, you’ll know that they had a lot of shapes and that many of these shapes were so distinctive that they are instantly recognizable, whether having been made under the GBD name, a tobacconist’s house brand, or a GBD sub-brand. When I saw this one come in, I thought, “I’m sure I know that shape.” It’s a very classical cutty, so there are many makers who could have produced it, but given the connection to GBD, especially in Michel’s Selected line, I do wonder whether this is in fact a GBD 1353—or, at least, one of their 1353 shapes, as the number was ultimately reassigned. For a time in the 1960s, however, GBD did have a 1353 “French cutty” just like this one (see attached picture), which, as it happens, coincided with the years Maison Michel was still in business. Do I know for certain? No. But I do have my hunches.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some very slight over-staining on the left of the shank end, but nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.71 / 18.03mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 1.0oz / 30g