Bruyere Garantie Miniature Torpedo Smooth Briar Pipe, Bakelite Stem, Fishtail Bit, Unsmoked Estate Pipe

Some pipes are made to fill a rack. This one was made to fit a hand, and it has never been lit.

Bowl: briar
Stem: bakelite
Mouthpiece: fishtail
Filter: none
Stamped: "Bruyere garantie"

A torpedo bowl narrows from a broader crown down to a slimmer base, its walls angled inward rather than running straight as on a poker, which gives the profile its tapering, cone-like silhouette. The line reads best in a compact bowl, which is why the torpedo is built small at least as often as large. Set against a straight billiard or a bulldog with its stepped diamond shank, the torpedo has no shoulder to speak of - the bowl simply tapers until it meets the shank.

At 125mm overall and a 33mm bowl height, this is a miniature in the literal sense: a pipe sized for a short smoke, not an evening's bowl. The chamber runs 18mm across and 23mm deep, a bore that holds a small charge of tobacco and burns it down quickly - the proportions of a pipe meant to be carried and smoked once, rather than packed for a long session.

The stem is bakelite, one of the earliest commercial thermoset plastics, prized in stem-making for holding its shape and its color where vulcanite tends to oxidize toward brown or green with age and light exposure. The light color of this stem is consistent with that stability. It is cut as a fishtail bit - the mouthpiece flares into two flattened wings at the button rather than tapering to a single round point - giving a broader bite surface than a plain taper bit. The stem meets the shank on a metal tenon rather than a molded plastic one; a metal fitting resists cracking under repeated removal in a way a fine bakelite or vulcanite tenon shaft cannot. No filter is fitted, per the seller's note, so the draw runs straight from bit to bowl with nothing in between.

THE MARKS
- "Bruyere garantie" stamped on the shank

Condition: stated by the seller as unsmoked. The chamber shows no cake and the rim shows no burn line, consistent with a bowl that has never been fired. No fills, no cracks, no repairs seen. Finish and grain: see the photographs.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 125mm (4.9 in)
- Bowl height: 33mm (1.3 in)
- Bowl width: 35mm (1.4 in)
- Chamber diameter: 18mm (0.7 in)
- Chamber depth: 23mm (0.9 in)
- Weight: 40g (1.4 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe.

SKU: 081