“Big Ben” “Classicline”

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Have you ever wondered how to use the terms Dutch, Holland or the Netherlands? Well, this pipe may help. The pipe was made in Holland, two of twelve provinces of the country known as the Netherlands. Yeah, there are two Hollands, a north and a south. The makers of the pipe were Dutch, referring to the culture and language of the region. Okay, I have shown off my undergraduate geography major for four years quite enough for one day.

This pipe caught my eye on eBay recently. I was taken by both the shape and the price. I immediately sent Sascha Mertens a private message via Facebook, asking if it was a good deal. He replied quickly, as usual, saying that it was indeed a good deal for a relatively rare and desirable shape. He had me at “good deal”. I can’t say I place too much emphasis on popular things, I know what I like. While we are talking about Sascha, he keeps me laughing with his complaints of purchasing pipes that are very clean. Yeah, he complains when a pipe is too clean and does not provide him with the opportunity or challenge of cleaning them up himself. This pipe is a wonderful example of that. I think it had only been smoked once. I now completely understand Sascha’s disappointment. Below are some photos of the Big Ben 702 before I did any work, if you can call it that, on it.

The pipe was nearly brand new. There was some unsmoked tobacco remnants in the bowl and a very minimal residue on the rim. I cannot even call it lava. The stem was slightly oxidized due to age with maybe a few light tooth marks. The only other thing to complain about was a slight wax build-up in the beading. This was going to be an “easy button” restoration.

Background

I first searched Big Ben on pipephil.eu:

Here I found very similar stamps but no reference to the Classic Line.

(Big Ben — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

The next search was on pipedia.org. Here too, the entry was lacking specificity for the Classic Line. Well actually it was lacking pretty much everything stating only, “The brand name Big Ben was originally owned by a small trade company in Amsterdam which was already well established in several countries selling pipes among other goods. The firm was bought by Elbert Gubbels & Zonen B.V. – see Gubbels – who were in search for a suitable brand name to further expansion on international markets.

Big Ben became Gubbels’ mainstay brand with it’s own website” (Big Ben – Pipedia).

I did follow the link from pipedia.org to the Gubbbels’ website: Want to buy a Big Ben pipe? The best tobacco pipes since 1870 – bigben. This site was a nice shopping and informational site. I found the most impressive thing was that they opened the workshop up to the public every Friday from 10:00am-4:00pm. Here in the US, that would likely meet with stern warnings from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“Our store is open every Friday! We cordially invite you to take a look at our production workshop. In our store you will find a wide range of Big Ben pipes in all shapes and colors. If your ideal pipe is not listed, we may be able to manufacture a pipe especially for you! Light maintenance of your beloved old pipe can usually be done on site.

Making a pipe requires craftsmanship, a lot of fingerspitzengefühl and experience in working with the unpredictable and capricious material: the root of the Erica Arborea, better known as briar wood. Formed by the rocky bottom of the Mediterranean region, this noble and beautifully textured wood contributes its 50 to 80 years of growth to the value of the pipe. We are proud to be able to tell you the whole story – from carrot to tobacco pipe!

We are open every Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. On all other days you can visit us by appointment.

We look forward to seeing you in Beegden (Limburg)!” (Want to buy a Big Ben pipe? The best tobacco pipes since 1870 – bigben)

There was also a very nice history of the company and a look into their future. It is quite detailed so I will not include it here but this link will take you there if you are interested in a very interesting history.

The Restoration

The restoration began with a clean denim piece which I felt certain would remain clean upon finishing.

I lexamined the tobacco chamber more closely under the bright lights of the workbench. Only smoked once or twice, was my conclusion.

The look down the mortise reaffirmed my thinking.

The reaming of this tobacco chamber only required a brass bore brush, from a 20 guage shotgun and a light scrape from the Smokingpipes Low Country reamer.

I swabbed out the chamber with an alcohol dipped cotton swab. Below you can see that the reaming only produced a tiny bit of carbon and a few flakes of tobacco.

The shank was cleaned out using 99% ethyl alcohol on cotton swabs.
These too, came back with little grime.

The stem was cleaned with alcohol and a bristle pipe cleaner.

I used a dental scraper to clear the majority of the wax that was built-up in the bead around the bowl.

The light residue on the rim was removed with saliva and a cotton make-up pad.

I took the stummel to the sink for what was probably an unnecessary scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush.
Some habits are hard to break.
The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench, the stem had a slight residue, likely from the airway cleaning.

I rubbed the stem with alcohol on a make-up pad and did get some oxidized vulcanite from the surface.

The stem was taken to the buffer where it was buffed with a blue buffing compound.
This removed any additional oxidation along with the slight tooth chatter.
It also dulled the bright silver of the stem logo.

To replace the silver, I used Silver Leaf Rub’nBuff. Before applying the fresh silver, I cleaned the logo with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.

The silver leaf was applied and hand-buffed with a soft cotton cloth.

The resulting fresh silver was back to its original bright finish.

The pipe was given several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer.

The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth.

This beautiful Big Ben Classic Line 702 did not need very much work. I love the shape and the balance of this pipe. It fits my hand well and clenches like a dream. The contrast dye was well done at the factory and really accentuates the briar. THe bright nickel accent on the stem goes very nicely with the silver stem logo. This is just a classy comfortable pipe that I am glad to add to my personal collection. The dimensions of the Big Ben Classic Line 702 are:

Length: 4.74 in./ 120.40 mm.

Weight: 1.48 oz./ 41.96 g.

Bowl Height: 1.97 in./ 50.04 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.57 in./ 39.88 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.68 in./ 17.27 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.63 in./ 41.40 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.