Help dateing a GBD

[bigmick]

A friend passed two of his father's pipes to me. One is a large GBD Rockroot, Collector, marked London, model number 9627 or maybe 9827 the second number is stamped lightly and hard to tell for sure. It's a octagon shaped panel.
I don't care what it's worth, as it has value well beyond price. It needs cleaned up but looks to have been well loved. I would just like to know an approximate age. I can't find any others shaped this way, although I did find some Rockroot and Collector marked pipes but can't narrow it down to even a decade.

Thanks for the help in advance.

He also gave me a "the pipe" he thought it was stone, but my research shows differently. It needs a new stem and some of the paint has chipped off.

any way you slice it, it was a good day for me.

 

[Harlock999]

Can you post photos?

 

[Muddler]

Those not marked London Made are pre-70's pipes, if I recall correctly. GBD dating is difficult.

 

[bigmick]

I'm away from a camera at the moment. I'll try to get pics up tomorrow.

 

[Frost]

This may help if you have not seen it already: http://www.perardua.net/pipes/GBDlines.html

Also pipedia probably has some info.


Edit - a relevant passage from the above quoted linky:

"Dating GBD's is difficult. On older pieces with hallmarked silver
bands, one can look up the hallmark. Once GBD and Comoy's became one,
the linear "Made in England" stamp became the round "Made in London
England" stamp used on all later Comoys.

Even the stem is not a sure-fire method. All the way through the 1960's
and early 1970's, some pipes were ftted with moulded stems, while others
were hand-cut. Not all hand-cut stems are marked as such, and it
doesn't depend on grade. (In my collection is one of the finest
Pedigrees I've ever seen. It is unsmoked, made in the 1960's, and has
one of the poorest moulded stems I've ever seen on a production pipe!
But, the wood would make a Dunhill DRH, or a Charatan Coronation blush!)
That said, you can be assured that if the stem has a painted GBD
rondelle, rather than a silver or brass one set into the stem, that it
is a late-model, made after the merge with Comoy. These were the
beginning of the dark-days for GBD (and Comoy, for that matter) in my
opinion.

In some cases, the grade gives some clues. Xtras haven't been made
since the 1930's, for instance, and the Century was first introduced
some time in the 1960's or 1970's as I recall, from what scant literature
I've been able to acquire. GBD introduced new shapes and dropped shapes
almost every year it seems (an exaggeration, I'm sure), so if you had a
lot of shape charts, you might be able to find a range"

 

[bigmick]

Mine just says "London England" in a line above the model number. The GBD oval is definitely inlaid.

I looked at that site, but the model number wasn't listed. I'll have to dig around some more.

 

[Muddler]

The octagonal panel is model 676, or mine is anyway.

 

[nosenhoj]

I am in the process of restoring an older GBD, The shank is Stamped GBD inside an oval. Also stamped marquis, St Claude France 117. no logo on the stem. I don't remember when I came into possesion of this Pipe, but it has always been a great smoke. Over the years it has log several miles, but the condition is quite good.
Never researched the age.


"There's a story behind every Bowl"

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[SpeedyPete]

Hello Mick and all other brothers, I'm really glad you brought up this topic.

I've got an oldish GBD stamped GBD and underneath "New Standard" on the left. On the right it's stamped "London England" and underneath 9488. The stem has got the silver oval GBD inlay on the left. The shank is square cut and the stem a saddle. Shape is large pot.

I'm very sorry, I can't post pictures.

Can someone maybe help dating this pipe?

 

[Muddler]

Pete, the silver rondelle on the shank & its age suggest it is from the pre-Comoy merger era i.e. prior to the 80's. The New Standard was a mid-grade model.

Here's a reference that may be of interest: http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=GBD

 

[SpeedyPete]

Pete, the silver rondelle on the shank & its age suggest it is from the pre-Comoy merger era i.e. prior to the 80's. The New Standard was a mid-grade model.

Here's a reference that may be of interest: http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=GBD[/quote

I thank you, sir!!