Hello all,
The name here is Jay. I’m a new member (just joined yesterday) and I’d like to share some of my knowledge with you regarding J.M. Boswell pipes. I will apologize now for this post being so long but I am a huge Boswell fan and want people who are thinking of trying his pipes to know exactly what to expect in regards to quality and customer service. Anyone who already has a Boswell will most surely back me up on what I’m about to say. I started smoking a pipe at the age of 18. My first pipe was a $15.00 wall pipe that had a tobacco leaf carved in the side of the bowl. I thought this was the best pipe in the world. It wasn’t until I gained more experience that I realized the area where the bowl and the shank meet was nothing but a big glob of wood putty. The funny thing is that this pipe is still in service. With my second pipe, I broke the bank at $20.00 for another wall pipe with less wood putty…lol
By this time I was hooked on collecting pipes and figured it was time to upgrade to something much better but money was still an issue. In my town of North Providence, R.I. a good friend by the name of Roger Bacon, owner of Jolly Roger’s Smoke Shop introduced me to a new line of pipes he was starting to carry. Boswell. I bought my first Boswell for only $45.00. I was a standard bent with a tan finish. I smoked this pipe constantly. Maybe even too much but I loved it. J.M. has this special coating that he puts on the inside of every bowl to help the break in period and provide a cool smoke from the first light which is especially helpful to new smokers afraid of tongue bite. Within a few months I bought my first freehand (another Boswell that I still have). My wife thought I was crazy for paying $80.00 for a pipe, (actually I did too) but now realizes what a good deal this was. I packed that thing with Vanilla Cavendish and started puffing away.
Now for the pipe collectors that must have a pipe with prefect flame grain and tons of birds eye I say stick to your $1000.00 + S. Bangs and Peter Matzholds because J.M. isn’t known for that. However if you’re looking for a great smoking pipe at an incredibly reasonable price then you must add one of his pipes to your collection. I can almost guarantee that you won’t stop at just one either. J.M.’s standards start at about $59.95 and his freehands start at about $79.95. With every pipe you purchase you get to choose a free ounce of one of their own house blends (which I can without reservation suggest to everyone because J.M. has some absolutely terrific house blends of every taste) and a free pipe tool. I currently have about a dozen Boswell’s in my collection however I once had around 25 or so but due to a devastating financial setback I was forced to sell off most of my collection around this time last year. I have been trying to re-build my collection for the past 6 months now and in fact, funny enough, am currently waiting for UPS do deliver my newest Boswell shotgun shell pipe and tamper set due in today.
By now all you guys must think I'm nuts or some kind of Boswell stalker because I’ve been doing nothing but praising them but believe it or not I do have one qualm with the Boswell’s. J.M. doesn’t let many distributors sell his goods, which in turn makes his pipes much harder to find and drives the price up on any estates found on E-bay. He does have a “pipes for sale” page on his web site but once new pipes are advertised they seem to sell almost instantly and the page isn’t refreshed as often as we would like it to be. This however might work in a potential buyers favor because it forces one interested in buying one of his creations to call them and talk to the family themselves and that’s when their service really shines. When you call you will either talk to Dan Boswell (J.M.’s son who is equally talented and knowledgeable with regards to pipes and tobaccos), Gail (his lovely and always pleasant to talk with wife) or J.M. himself, which doesn’t happen often because he’s always in the back making his pipes. Whoever you get you will instantly feel like a new member of their family. And believe me when I say that they take care of family!! Repair work is done within a few days. Any and all questions asked are thoroughly answered and explained. For about $20.00 you can send a pipe back for a cleaning, reaming, buff and polish and a brand new mouthpiece and when you get it back it looks like a brand new pipe. J.M. does repair work on any brand pipe too, not just his own line. Say you buy one of the more expensive brands and don’t want to ruin the original mouthpiece. J.M. will make an exact replacement, minus the maker’s logos, so you can use that one and keep the original new. He will even do custom work for you. Say you wanted a certain shape in a certain color or as in the case of Irene’s pipe, initials engraved, it’s a done deal. He will even engrave names and dates in pipes made for gifts or for remembering special events such as weddings and baby’s birthdates.
My suggestion to anyone even thinking about trying one of J.M.’s pipes is to call their shop, talk to Gail or Dan, tell them what you’re looking for and ask them to e-mail you pictures of any new pipes available that may fit the bill.
Well by now you’re probably tired of hearing me babble on so if you’ll excuse me I’m going to try and cure this horrible case of TAD I’ve had for a few days now by ordering some Samuel Gawith blends I’ve been meaning to try.
I bid all of you happy smoking!!!