Comoy's: French made Monaco?

[SocWorkerSmoker]

I am relatively new to estate pipe purchasing so any and all help would be much appreciated. Yesterday I purchased an un-smoked estate Comoy’s Rhodesian (1057). Does anyone have any information regarding dating you can help with. The pipe has the following information: it has ‘Comoy's Monaco’ written in cursive on one side and the model number, 1057, on the other. At the heel of the pipe it say ‘France’. I also have the original box that has ‘Lineage Series’, ‘made in France’, and ‘Monaco’ on it. In Hacker’s book he says the French made Comoy’s Monaco is a good collectable that won’t break the bank. But that is all he says. I paid $35 for it. I also found an advertisement on pipepages.com from the Comoy’s brochure from 1975 identifying the French made Monaco. I am wondering what years this pipe may have been made during. I could not find the pipe listed again in brochures before or after 1975.

Thanks for the help
Cheers
Joshua

 

[Anonymous]

Since nobody is volunteering anything, the continental divide with Comoys was their factory closure and absorbtion into the Cadogan cartel. Comoys continue to be made (or, rather, pipes continue to be made and branded as Comoys), but from other manufacturers (its a long story and I don't know most of it).

Look very closely at the "C" in the stem. If it's stamped into it, it's a post-merger pipe. If there was a round hole drilled, that plugged with a white disc, then a second, smaller hole drilled in the center, plugged with black, then a third hole drilled to the right a bit and plugged with black vulcanite (forming a 3-piece "C"), it's an original (Drury Lane plant) Comoy.

Better than nothing, hopefully.

:face:

 

[Frost]

Pipedia has a decently informative article on Comoys, if you have not checked it yet. There is a link to a dating guide and shape chart at the bottom of the article:

http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Comoy%27s

 

[SocWorkerSmoker]

Thank Frost and Yak. After reading both your posts and going back to the pipedia website, it looks like the pipe is post-merger. Because I found an advertisement identifying the pipe in a Comoy’s brochure in 1975 and Hacker mentioning the line in his book as being collectible I thought maybe the 3 C's might not have been on the French version or the pipe stem had been buffed so significantly that I could not see the 3 C's, and thus pre-merger. However, after looking at the original box it came in (ie, actually looking at the dang thing) I noticed it said that the pipe was distributed by Cadogan. So, there you have it. Post-merger. The Monaco pipe must have been in production pre and post merger. Oh'well. The GBD, however, I know is pre-merger because of all the tell-tale signs: brass rondelle and says "London made". Well, now I know for next time! Thanks again for the help

Cheers
Joshua

 

[Anonymous]

If I recall correctly, the Cadogan cartel had been in existence for 60+ years, with Comoys a part of it.

Before the merger, each company had manufactured its own pipes. After it. the various plants were shut down, with one plant (Swansea ?) manufacturing pipes that were branded as Comoys, BBBs and so on.

:face:

 

[riff raff]

Do you still have this pipe? If so, I'd love to see a few pictures of it.

 

[RDPipes]

Do you still have this pipe?  If so, I'd love to see a few pictures of it.

5 years ago Riff, I think you'd be press'en your luck maybe.

 

[riff raff]

Do you still have this pipe?  If so, I'd love to see a few pictures of it.

5 years ago Riff, I think you'd be press'en your luck maybe.

Yeah.....

I just bought an unsmoked Comoys 1057 Monaco Lineage pipe...