An Unbelievable Transformation of a 1937-’55 KBB Yello-Bole Cured With Real Honey Apple

The KBB Yello-Bole Apple now on the worktable brings with it a bucket full of nostalgia for me.  It was November 7, 2016, and my wife and I were in the States from Bulgaria for the wedding of our youngest daughter, Johanna, in Nashville, Tennessee.  The wedding was the day before and we were heading …

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New life for a Striking Edward’s Handmade Algerian Briar

The next pipe on the worktable is an Edward’s Sculpted Briar Handmade which I acquired while on a pipe-picking mission at a local antique mall here in the Denver area.  The Brass Armadillo is a pickers paradise and I enjoy trolling through the isles of ‘locked’ glass display cases where the good stuff is kept.  …

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Breathing Life into a Stunning Charatan Mountbatten Royal Made in London England 209 Pot

The Mountbatten Pot shape on the worktable came to me in December 2018 when my son, Josiah, came upon a lot of pipes for sale in an antique shop in St. Louis where he was studying.  He sent me a picture of the ‘St. Louis Lot of 26’ with the proposal that he would split …

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Reclaiming a Wenhall Futura 87 Fancy Rusticated Miniature Billiard from a Shank Crack and Crushed Stem

The next pipe on the worktable I found on the online auction block in December of 2017.  I was drawn to the pipe by its unique shape and deeply carved rustication which could almost pass for an ‘extreme’ blasted surface.  As often is the case with online sellers, the pictures don’t always tell everything, and …

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New Life to a French Chapuis-Comoy Sunrise 729 Acrylic Bent Stem Dublin Sitter

The next pipe on the worktable came to me in 2018 when my son, Josiah, contacted me from an antique shop in St. Louis, where he lived and was studying.  He found a box of pipes with a price on it, and he texted me in Bulgaria, where we were then, with a question whether …

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Breathing New Life into an ‘Elegant’ Lorenzo Eleganza 8769 of Italy Bent Dublin

The next pipe on the worktable is an attractive, Lorenzo Eleganza – another pipe that Daren has commissioned from the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection which benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria – helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Darren is an active member in his Pennsylvania based pipe and cigar club (See: FB Chester County Cigar Club – Holy Smokes) and reached out to me after he discovered a fellow member acquired a pipe restored by me.  The Lorenzo that caught Darren’s eye was acquired with the help of my son, Josiah, who connected me with a lot of 26 pipes at an antique store located in St. Louis, where he and his wife reside.  It was a great addition to the Dreamers collection and many of these have already found new homes with happy stewards.  The Lorenzo Elegeanza is marked.