Sasieni Four Dot Walnut Oom Paul S XS Estate Briar Pipe

Description

Along with names like Barling, Charatan, and Dunhill Sasieni holds a special place in the history of English smoking pipes – one near to its very beginnings. So the story goes, Sasieni himself worked for Dunhill during its early days. But eventually he left Dunhill, having his own ideas about how pipes should be made, and founded Sasieni. This was 1919, and Sasieni has been the closest thing to a household name in English pipes ever since.

After a protracted legal battle with Dunhill over the use of dotted stem inlays, Joel Sasieni began using light-blue dots – in contrast to Dunhill’s single white spot – to indicate the quality of his pipes. This remained constant for the entirety of the pre-transition, family era of Sasieni’s ownership, to which this Oom Paul S belongs. The Four Dot pipes were Sasieni’s highest-grade output at the time of this one’s production, underneath which were Two Dots, and then the sub-brand pipes, such as the Fantail or the Old England. But this particular Four Dot Oom Paul S is quite special, and quite rare, because it is technically one step higher than an ordinary Four Dot pipe. This is signified by the ‘XS’ stamp on its right side, which is not a size designation, but rather that it was, in Sasieni’s own words, a “premium priced” pipe.

It is certainly a beautiful pipe, one deserving of its Four Dot grade and its additional premium. If you are wondering why I keep referring to it as an ‘Oom Paul S’ and not simply an ‘Oom Paul,’ this is because Sasieni had two Hungarian shapes; this one, the saddle stem Oom Paul S (number 80S); and the tapered stem Oom Paul (number 80).

The condition is very good. There are one or two small handling marks on the bowl, and there’s a little rim darkening, but I’d say these are minor imperfections.

 

Details:

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.85″ / 46.99mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g