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Brand Dating Guides
The origin stamp splits Orlik pipes at 1980, when Cadogan bought the firm. MADE IN LONDON over ENGLAND means 1980 or later.
Updated 2026-10-01
Welcome. If your pipe says ORLIK, this guide helps you place it in time.
Orlik was a London pipe maker. One family ran it from 1899 until the sale to Cadogan.
Cadogan was a group of British pipe makers. It also owned Comoy's, GBD and BBB.
The most useful clue is the origin stamp. It shows if a pipe is from before or after 1980.
An Orlik carries no year code. So most pipes can only be placed before or after 1980.
Our facts come from Pipedia, pipephil.eu, the family history at the National Pipe Archive, and one old newspaper advert.
Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia. Pipephil.eu is a website of pipe stamps and logos.
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.
From 1899 to the sale in 1980
Pipedia says Louis Orlik founded L. Orlik Ltd. in London in 1899, in Bond Street.
The family history says the first address was Great Arthur Street, in the City of London. The two sources disagree.
The family history is the account of Simon Orlik, a member of the family, at the National Pipe Archive.
It says the brothers came from Vienna. Alfred went to America and Louis to London.
Pipedia says the firm used the name L & A Orlik by 1907. This seems to add Alfred, the brother of Louis.
Pipedia says the firm also worked in Birmingham in the early 1900s. Silver hallmarks show this.
The family history says workers from Saint-Claude in France came to London in 1923. Orlik then began to make its own bowls.
Before 1923 the bowls were turned in France. This comes from the family history only.
The family history gives two moves: to Ashbrook Road in 1926 or 1927, and to Chiswell Street in 1937 or 1938.
It says the catalogues were short during and after the war, up to 1949. The first full catalogue after the war came in 1950.
It says the sons Herbert and Dennis Orlik took over about 1950.
It says Orlik opened a showroom in Old Bond Street in 1954. That year Orlik also took over Nutt Products, the maker of the Hurricane pipe.
It names the pipe maker Colin Byford in 1961. It says a new factory opened in Essex in 1974.
It says the sale to Cadogan was agreed in 1979.
Pipedia says Cadogan bought Orlik in 1980. Production then moved to the Cadogan factory in Southend-on-Sea.
The main clue: before or after 1980
Look for the origin stamp on the shank. This is the line that names the country.
Before Cadogan, Pipedia says MADE IN ENGLAND is in one straight line of capital block letters.
The name ORLIK is also in one straight line of capital block letters.
After 1980 Orlik used the Cadogan stamp. MADE IN LONDON stands in a circle, with ENGLAND in a straight line below it.
Comoy's and other Cadogan brands carry the same stamp. Pipephil.eu also lists Orlik as a Cadogan brand.
One known model, ORLIK NATURAL T 1155, has MADE IN ENGLAND in serif letters. Pipedia says its date is unknown.
Serif letters have small strokes at the ends of each line, as in this text. Block letters have plain ends.
L&AO and the brass O
Some early pipes carry the letters L&AO, for L & A Orlik. This name dates from 1907.
Pipedia shows a pipe stamped L&AO from 1914. It was made for Benson & Hedges, London.
Before Cadogan, the mouthpiece carries a circular O as a brass inlay. Pipedia calls this the Orlik logo.
Pipephil.eu says a cross logo appears only sometimes on Orlik mouthpieces. Our cabinet holds no date for the cross.
Our cabinet is our file of sourced dating facts for one maker.
Ranges with no rank
Pipedia lists the models from before Cadogan, each with a series letter. The list gives no years.
Examples are Old Bond Street (A), Supreme (T), Corona (C), Old Root (R) and De Luxe (L).
An X after the letter means a sandblast finish, for example TX or LX.
The letters name a model. They do not give a year.
Our cabinet gives some model names a wide range, but with no rank. So they appear here, not in the table.
Supreme, Old Root, Double Bore, Prince Regent, Major Black, Clubman and Black Prince: 1899 to 1985.
We end these at 1985, five years after the sale, because a model may have gone on under Cadogan.
Old Bond Street: 1954 to 1985. The showroom in Old Bond Street opened in 1954, says the family history.
Dugout: about 1914 to 1939. An advert in the Grimsby Daily Telegraph lists ORLIK-DUGOUT in 1921. One source only.
Hurricane with the Orlik name: 1954 or later, the year of the Nutt takeover in the family history.
Our cabinet notes that a Hurricane from before 1954 carries the Nutt name, not Orlik.
Some Orlik pipes have a silver band. A British silver band carries hallmarks.
The hallmarks show the year the silver was marked. Read them with our guide to UK silver hallmarks.
That guide is on this website at faridunhill.com/encyclopedia/uk-silver-hallmarks-dating-guide.
Pipedia says the hallmarks show that Orlik also worked in Birmingham.
Pipedia lists the 3/4 oz models with the numbers 1986 and 1990. These are series numbers, not years.
Shape codes such as T 90S, GX22 or X 77 are not years. No source ties them to a date.
Captain Black is also the name of a tobacco by Lane. So the name alone does not show an Orlik pipe.
The family history says the sale was agreed in 1979. Pipedia gives 1980. A pipe from those two years may carry either stamp.
Pipedia and the family history disagree on the first address. So an address alone does not date a pipe.
The serif MADE IN ENGLAND on the Natural T 1155 has no known date. Do not use it to date a pipe.
Read the line that names the country, on the shank.
MADE IN LONDON in a circle, over ENGLAND
The Cadogan origin stamp, also used on Comoy's. Orlik joined Cadogan in 1980.
MADE IN ENGLAND in one straight line, capital block letters
The stamp before Cadogan, from Pipedia. The serif form on the Natural T 1155 has no known date.
Read the name on the shank and look at the top of the mouthpiece.
L&AO or L & A ORLIK
The name L & A Orlik is in use by 1907. Pipedia shows an L&AO pipe from 1914.
Brass circular O inlaid in the mouthpiece
Pipedia calls it the Orlik logo before Cadogan. A replaced mouthpiece may not be the original.
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 Orlikyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Orlik in the Shop