Vintage, Rare Find, Restored La Fond’s Vintage, Algerian Briar, (GBD Sub-brand), Made in England, Billiard/Square order Shank Pipe, #9487.

This estate pipe was a rare find. This was another great estate pipe that I restored, cleaned, and sanitized. This pipe is branded as La Fond's Vintage, Algerian Briar, Made in England pipe, shape #9487. The pipe does have a removable metal filter piece from the tenon for personal preference. This pipe was rarely smoked and didn't need much cleaning. The bowl didn't need much order reaming at all. No carbon cake buildup. No ghosting either. The only restoration done was mostly the stem, since it was heavy oxidized from being stored many years. The stem is vulcanite and are known to get oxidized if not cared for or cleaned regularly. There are two small imperfections or fills on the exterior of the bowl. There is a very, small visible tooth mark near the bit on the bottom side. The tooth mark was too small to even try sanding or removing, because it was too close to the button end. I decided not to sand down or try and remove the two imperfection spots/fills, because I did not want to have any high or low spots on the briar, especially on the bowl. Overall, this pipe turned out fantastic. Great looking grain patterns on this pipe, especially on the square shank and the flat bottom of the pipe stummel. (Please see photographs for better description and measurements).

I tried to do some research on this pipe brand, since I have never heard of it. After reading an article online, it appeared based on the information and shape number, this pipe is the same as one of GBD lines. There is a pipe shape and number that matches to a GBD pipe, so possibly a GBD sub-brand or second. Anyway, this is another great looking pipe for any collector or someone's pipe rotation. Makes a great Christmas gift too. Thanks for looking.