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Brand Dating Guides
Butz-Choquin began in Metz in 1858 and moved to Saint-Claude in 1951. The town on the stamp is your first clue.
Updated 2026-10-03
Welcome. If your pipe says BUTZ-CHOQUIN, or BC on the stem, this guide helps you place it in time.
The brand began in Metz, in eastern France. In 1951 it moved to Saint-Claude, the French pipe town.
So the town named on your pipe is the first thing to read.
Our facts come from Pipedia and pipephil.eu. We read our saved copies of both again today.
Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia. Pipephil.eu is a website of pipe stamps and logos.
We also read two Butz-Choquin catalogues. Neither one has a printed date.
Where the sources disagree, we show both. We say when a fact has one source only.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. High means strong, agreed evidence.
Medium means one good source or a general rule. Low means a wide range or a weak hint.
1858 to 1951
Jean-Baptiste Choquin was a tobacconist in Metz. Gustave Butz was his first workman.
Pipedia says Butz married Choquin's daughter Marie in 1858.
Both sources say the two men made their first pipe together in 1858.
Pipedia describes it as a bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl.
Its mouthpiece was made of albatross bone, fixed with silver rings.
On the stamps, A Metz is French for in Metz.
Pipedia says Butz then built a workshop in Metz to make this pipe.
Pipephil.eu says that before 1951, several makers made or sold Butz-Choquin pipes.
One of them was Berrod-Regad, the firm that later bought the name.
1951 onward
In 1951 the Berrod-Regad company of Saint-Claude bought the Butz-Choquin name. Pipedia and pipephil.eu agree on the year.
Pipedia says the work moved from Metz to Saint-Claude at that time.
Pipedia says Berrod-Regad began selling abroad in 1960.
Pipedia also says the range grew from ten to seventy series in a few years. It gives no years for this.
Pipephil.eu says Jean Paul Berrod ran the company from 1969 to 2002.
Pipephil.eu says Jacky Berrod led Butz-Choquin production until his death in 1993.
In 2002 the Berrod family sold the company to Fabien Guichon, a local man.
Pipedia spells his name Guichon. Pipephil.eu spells it Gichon. It is the same person.
Pipephil.eu says Denis Blanc, the owner of the EWA brand, took over the company in 2006.
Our sources show no change in the stamps after 2006. We do not know if there was one.
The 1858 model, still made
The Origine is the brand's famous first model. It has a long white extension between bowl and mouthpiece.
Pipephil.eu says this extension was hollow albatross bone in the 19th century.
More recent Origine pipes have an extension of acrylic, a kind of plastic.
The painter Camille Corot smoked an Origine. A photo of him by Nadar was used in a Butz-Choquin advert.
Corot lived from 1796 to 1875. This shows the model is old. It does not date your pipe.
The modern Origine is stamped Butz-Choquin, A Metz, Origine on the left side.
The right side says St Claude, France. That right side tells you it is a Saint-Claude pipe.
So never date an Origine by its name alone. Read both sides, and look at the extension.
Pipephil.eu shows many Butz-Choquin lines. Our sources give no years for most of them.
Collection is a top line made by Alain Albuisson. It is graded with two, three or four stars.
Its stamp says Fait main, which means hand made. An A in a circle is Albuisson's mark.
Maitre Pipier pipes were made by Paul Lanier until he retired. Alain Albuisson made them after him.
Cybele always has the same shape and a shank extension of exotic wood.
Other lines are Bellevue, Select, Free Hand, C'est bon and Auto-Sport.
Auto-Sport is a pipe with a cover against the wind.
Frontenac is a cheaper brand. Its stamp says Fabrique par BC, which means made by BC.
In the two undated catalogues, the stem mark shows the grade.
A gold BC is on the top finishes: Grand Luxe, Commandeur and Prelude.
A silver BC is on Granada, Bourbon and the cheaper finishes. This shows the grade, not a year.
Numbers like 1845, 1604 or 1504 on the shank are shape numbers. They are not years.
This is easy to miss, because they look like years from before the brand began in 1858.
Depuis 1858 means since 1858. It is the brand's founding year, not your pipe's year.
N° 154 217 on an Optimal is a design registration number, not a date.
A pipe for The Pipe Club of Japan says 1974 - 1994. Our source gives no year for the pipe itself.
A Metz on a pipe does not prove it is old. The modern Origine says A Metz too.
Read every line on both sides of the shank, and under the bowl.
ST CLAUDE or SAINT CLAUDE, in any form
Berrod-Regad bought the name in 1951 and made the pipes in Saint-Claude. Pipedia and pipephil.eu agree.
BUTZ CHOQUIN in an arch, over A METZ, and Metz is the only town on the pipe
Pipephil.eu dates such a pipe before 1951. Check the other side and under the bowl for St Claude first.
A METZ, with St Claude also on the pipe
The modern Origine says A Metz too. The St Claude rule above then gives 1951 onward.
FAIT MAIN (hand made)
A Saint-Claude marking. Our sources do not say when it began. So we start it at the 1951 move to Saint-Claude.
Look at the long white piece between the bowl and the mouthpiece.
Hollow albatross bone
Pipephil.eu says bone was used in the 19th century. One source only. The end year is our own wide limit.
Acrylic (plastic)
Pipephil.eu says more recent pipes use acrylic. It gives no start year. Our own wide limit starts at the 1951 move to Saint-Claude.
Read the model name on the bowl or shank.
OPTIMAL, with Des. J. COLOMBO
Designed by Joe Colombo. Pipephil.eu says they date from the 1960s. One source only. The end year 1975 is our own wide limit.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a Butz-Choquinyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Butz-Choquin in the Shop