BBB Own Make "Perfection"??

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mattia76

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Hey guys,
Just got my first BBB pipe, an Own Make Perfection bulldog.
I can't find anything about the Perfection line.
It's got some tight grain and no fills that I can see.
Anyone know anything?
 
It is possible that it's a Charatan and not a BBB? Charatan produced a "Perfection" line. See the following link (scroll down to the section on "Dating Charatans"):


http://hozzenplozz.de/CharatanbyIRyan.htm

Excerpts from the text:
"The Perfection These pipes were always cross-grained and were so named because Dunhills were most always cross-grained. Dunhill claimed to make "perfect pipes," so Charatan's Make were having their little joke. These were sometimes dyed walnut to bring out weak grain."
 
Did Charatan made pipes stamped "Own make" ? BTW: the text by Ivy Ryan is most interesting, but some consider it as not exactly accurate, we read in Pipedia:
Note: Memories of Charatan Pipes and Notes on their Dating, an article that appeared in The Pipe Collector written by Ivy Ryan has been removed from Pipedia. Charatan experts and enthusiasts indicate that this article contains miss-information as to the dating of Charatan pipes.
Pipedia further says:
The following Charatan Article in Italian is reported to be excellent. It is a study by Fabio Ferrara (Monterubbiano - Italy) based on more than 2000 old Charatan pipes he studied from the "Basciano stock" purchased by Mario Lubinski - Fermo). Unfortunately in Italian.
http://digilander.libero.it/tempioedonismo/CHARATAN.htm

There is also text on Charatan by Tad Gage
http://www.pipeguy.com/cp-gage.htm
But the link seems to be dead. I trust that some of us saved it in some readable format and are ready to help.

Back to the matter
I found nothing on BBB Own Make Perfection. Nothing also in here
http://www.fumeursdepipe.net/artbbb.htm
In general it seems, that there were two main grades: Own Make and Best Make. The sources published here
http://pipepages.com/bbb.htm
may create an impression that main lines within the Own Make grade were: Virgin, Sterling Silver, Thorneycroft, Rare Grain, Walnut, Block Meerschaum Lined Virgin. These names in a way dominate the BBB scene as we see and read in sources published at Pipepages.

But there is an exception: in the Tinderbox catalog from 1979
http://pipepages.com/tinderbox2.htm
we see something new. It is BBB Golden Legacy..."The reminiscent of the halcyon days of pipe making, we present the BBB Golden Legacy. Those of you who remember the BBB pipes of yesteryears will know and appreciate these classic reissues...
http://pipepages.com/pics/tbox11.jpg

So I still know nothing for sure, but I am not excluding, that by analogy this Own Make Perfection may be of a similar to this Golden Legacy edition. Maybe the people who are more knowledgeable on Tinderbox may add something ? maybe somebody is in a possession of other catalogs, flyers etc ?

EDIT:
Beforementioned lines of the BBB seem to be characteristic for time when these catalogs were published and earlier. With time going on new edition were offered; I have now in my hands nice looking bent rhodesiana BBB, MINERVA, MATT, London, England, model number 421. This very pipe was manufactured in late '80, maybe at the beginning of '90. No stamping like Own Make or Best Make. Maybe the pipe marked Own Make and Perfection cames from time, when the Own Make stamp was still in use, and new lines were indroduced ?
 
Back in the day, their Own Make Virgins were the top of their line, and comparable to anybody's standard shapes -- superior to some that are better recognised today. (The title was likely a subtle finger-flash at Dunhill, which bought stummels under the table from others to supplement its own production).

The Thorneycrofts and silvermounts are (in my experience) uniformly undersized and marred by flaws -- essentially marketable seconds.

After the final Cadogan merger, BBB was simply another trade name, with a lot of new "grades" introduced, stamped on pretty much anything produced anywhere (initially the big consolidated Cadogan factory that supplied the world with "BBB"s, "Charatans," "Comoys" &c. After that petered out, from France).

A little before or possibly at the same time as this, Wally Frank bought the American rights to the BBB logo and stamped (not inlaid) this on the BBBs he produced. On the basis of a sample size of one, they're as fine a pipe as anything England ever put out, but the contraction & difficulties in the market made him close the plant and send the machinery over to Italy under contract. The DiMontes that resulted were actually pretty good but didn't last more than a few years either.

It was a dark time for pipe makers everywhere.

:face:
 
Unfortunately, the camera and the photo program in the computer have stopped speaking to each other. If I can get that mediated, squat bulldogs by both, side-by-side.

:face:
 
mattia76":1f8o9r43 said:
Hey guys,
Just got my first BBB pipe, an Own Make Perfection bulldog.
I can't find anything about the Perfection line.
It's got some tight grain and no fills that I can see.
Anyone know anything?
What about the BBB English Pipe Book? Nothing in there?
 
Mattia76, is there any chance you could post a picture of the pipe in question?
 
OK guys,

First, let me settle some speculation. I DO know how to read a pipe, and this is definitely both a BBB Own Make, as well as a Perfection.

It has the BBB in a diamond that was stamped on the stem (not embossed)

All this discussion has gotten me really curious.

I gave the pipe to a buddy of mine today, but I'll take some pics in the next couple of weeks and post them.
 
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