By Shaun

Savinelli Estella Rough Finish – As of 7/28/2008, this pipe is no longer in my collection. It has been given to a friend as a birthday present. What more could a guy who has most everything want? I’d say a quality piece of briar will work well.

Savinelli - Estella

aIrish pipe, leprechaun? – Carver unknown
aIrish Pipe?

Pearwood pipe, Frigate – DreamWood studio in Kharkov
Picture 146

Meerschaum pipe – Servi
Picture 121

Meerschaum pipe, Dragon claw – Unknown carver
Picture 118

Meerschaum/Briar pipe – SMS Meerschaum
Picture 117

Missouri Meerschaum Original Corn Cob – large
Picture 131

Missouri Meerschaum Original Corn Cob – small
Picture 132

Peterson Rough Finish, 301 – Dated 1976
1976 Peterson's 301

Rinaldo Lithos, Silver Line Titania Rhodesian/Bent Bulldog – Grade YY. From the shop owner I bought it from, this pipe was made in 2001.
My Rinaldo Pipe

Stanwell Colonial 186

Stanwell Colonial 186

Briar pipe, long stemmed – Markings are Radica, Italiana
Picture 135

Rolex, Italy – Pocket pipe
Picture 139

Bent Bob’s, Italy – small
Bent Bob's

Meerschaum Pipe, Horses - Carved by Sethi
Picture 122
Picture 123

Meerschaum Pipe, Two Nude Women – Carved by Sethi
Picture 115
Picture 114
Picture 116

Briar pipe – Markings are Converti Rustic, Italy. This pipe also came in a pouch with the letters YStC stamped on it.
Picture 143

Whitehall – Gulf Stream
Picture 149


11 Responses to “My Pipes”


  1. 1 ed wilk
    January 20, 2008 at 7:16 am

    I smoked a pipe about 40 years ago for a brief time. I’ve just started smoking a pipe again and for whatever reason I find it much more enjoyable and relaxing than before. I am just beginning to acquire some pipes. Is there any kind of rating system that lists pipes according to excellant, good, etc or by a number system, 10,9,8 etc. ? Past experience tells me that it’s better in the long run to buy quality in the beginning.

    Thanks,

    ed wilk (Texas)

    Hey Ed,
    Thanks for dropping by! From my experience thus far, each brand/carver/artist has their own rating system. My Rinaldo, take for example is a top of the line pipe, but it’s considered mid-grade by the makers. I believe they have a YYYY then it goes up from there all the way to a Fiamata. My suggestion is to find something that’s appealing to you that fits within your budget. Also, you can do some further research by clicking on some of the links on the page for collectors, and then for retailers and pipe makers. Dunhill, Peterson, Savinelli, Sasieni are all great pipes I hear. I have one Peterson and two Savinellis myself. All good smokers. Good luck!

  2. 2 Anna Steen
    June 10, 2008 at 11:58 am

    Perhaps you may have some knowledge of a pipe
    with the label
    whitehall – made in Italy—with a merschaum lining.

    Just asking for information, Thank you. Have a beautiful day.

    Hey there Anna,
    I have seen a few Whitehall pipes. From what I can tell, they compare to that of a Dr. Grabow, or Kaywoodie. Not high quality and mass produced. They stopped production sometime in the 80’s. The meerschaum should help cool the smoke and make it more enjoyable.
    I think I actually have a couple of Whitehall pipes awaiting for me to tinker with restoration.
    Would I smoke these after I restore them? Probably not. There are plenty of people who swear by Dr. Grabow, Kaywoodie, and pipes within this quality range, I have a hard time finding them enjoyable.
    Thank you for stopping by and have a beautiful day yourself.
    ~BBVV

  3. 3 S Lee
    July 29, 2008 at 8:55 am

    Hi Ed,

    I wish I could have picked up some great pipes when I was student in the USA 20 years ago.

    Now, back home in Singapore and Malaysia we can not find any good quality pipes at a reasonable price. I have been looking for online pipe shops. Your posting has been of great help to me.

    I have been looking for a Meerschaum Pipe, which online shop would you recommend I buy from ?

    Thank you very much.

  4. March 19, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Hello. Very nice collection. I wanted to know: how many inches long is the Rinaldo Lithos, Silver Line Titania Rhodesian/Bent Bulldog? Thanks!

    • March 29, 2009 at 9:04 pm

      Hey there Emilio,
      Thanks for dropping in.
      The Rinaldo is 6 inches long and the bowl is 2 inches in diameter

  5. June 29, 2009 at 6:43 am

    I found bootlegbonvivant.wordpress.com very informative. The article is professionally written and I feel like the author knows the subject very well. bootlegbonvivant.wordpress.com keep it that way.

  6. 7 Susan Mattix
    October 14, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    Hello Shaun,
    My husband recently bought about 25 or 30 pipes from an older gent. I have been trying to research on line. We know nothing about pipes. There are a couple that stand out to me. One is a Ben Wade marked “Golden Matt” and “Hand made in Denmark”. Another is a Baby Wellington. There is also a Savinelli Rolex vest pocket pipe, which is what drew me to your site, which popped up in google when I put that pipe into the search engine. Another is an Alpha Signature?

    I have not even had time to go through every pipe and try to look it up yet. These are all well used pipes and would need cleaned up. I wonder if you could tell me what to use to clean them up a bit and where, on line, to look for information on some of these pipes?
    Thank you for any direction you can give.
    Have a great day.
    Susan

    • October 16, 2009 at 9:31 am

      Hello Susan,
      Thanks for stopping by.
      Sea salt and 180 proof drinking alcohol (Everclear) works great on getting out the old tobacco flavors and sanitizing them. Might have to do this 3-4 times to get it out. Place the salt in the bowl and fill up with the alcohol. Let it sit for several hours. If there is what’s called cake (built up tobacco ash) in the pipe, then you’ll need to ream the pipe bowl before the salt and alcohol treatment.

      There are some great resources out there for finding maintenance information and pipe history. Check out “The Pipe Collectors Page” at the top of this site for some of those links. You can also Google pipe forums and find masses of information in them. Most will let you search without an account.

      I don’t know much about Ben Wade other than they are/were some great pipes. Savinelli I find to be great smokers and worth the investment. With Alpha, it depends on if it’s stamped with Israel on the shank. If it was, they were made in the only pipe factory Israel had and were probably made between the ’40s to late ’60s. Beyond that, I believe they were made in the U.S. under Dr. Grabow.

  7. 9 random young starter
    October 21, 2009 at 10:25 am

    love the horses meerschaum, i gotta look that thing up

    • November 4, 2009 at 7:02 am

      Not sure how well known Sethi is. My wife bought that meer for me for my birthday a few years back and had found them in a local shop. Apparently the carver lives in the area.


Leave a Reply




Ballew Family Artisans

Shaun = Bootleg Bon Vivant

Bootleg’s Twitter

  • So much to do today, maybe some pipe restoration work later.~BBVV~1 month ago
  • @pghpipeclub I went and bought a bench grinder. Fitted it with a 6" buffing wheel. Some say the rpm is too fast. But it works well for me.~BBVV~1 month ago
  • Found about 6 more pipes yesterday. I have 6 pipes to finish before I get to these, and a few that I need to buy replacement stems for.~BBVV~1 month ago
  • Finally! I finished restoring some pipes. They're up for grabs. http://bit.ly/CB5p2~BBVV~1 month ago
  • Haven't smoked a pipe in a few weeks. Been sick and starting to crave the taste~BBVV~2 months ago

 

November 2009
M T W T F S S
« Oct    
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  

Flickr Photos

Laird Albert

Laird Albert

Dart board in the garage

More Photos

Blog Stats

  • 19,231 hits

SocialVibe