With
the advent of the new 500-700 series pipes launched in 2002, the
traditional 400-700 series pipes were re-named the
"Classic" 400-700 series. No longer in production but
still available on the market, these pipes were all created
prior to the year 2002. Employing the 4 to 7 dot brass pin
system (and 3 dot configuration for the President series), this feature identifies the pipes as the Classic series.
All but a very select few prototypes employ the Brigham filter
system and those made prior to 2001, all use the aluminum
tenon. The President series (a designation reserved for pipes
with the highest quality of grain and workmanship.) is
also pictured above (the bottom-most pipe). These pipes were
mostly created after the 1980s, although similar pipes called
the Valhalla and Norseman were released in previous years
without the 3-dot President pinning.
Historical differences exist not only in shape, but also in stamping. Older pipes feature a patent number stamped in the pipe shank. The Brigham logo used was also thinner and more cursive. Between this era and the late 1970s, a different stamp was used featuring the Brigham name printed straight across rather than on an angle and in a different cursive font. After 1980, the pipes were imprinted with the Brigham name in the style of our current logo which was revised at that time. This is one way to roughly date the pipes.
Of particular
interest, the 400 series is currently being revised, and there
has therefore been a production gap between 2001 and the next
wave of Brigham 400 series pipes which should make a
re-appearance in 2003. The 500-700 classic series was phased out
at the end of 2001 at which time a select number of pipes with a
natural "blond" stain was used. This period
represented a time of experimentation and there are some shapes
of which only a dozen or so were produced. They include a
bent apple shape (shape #89 with a deep bend), a #23/24 with an
angled bowl, and a #47 with a slightly angled bowl. These pipes
were made with a particularly good quality of plateau briar
which we were able to procure for what was to be a limited
edition series.
The recent
changes in the Brigham line has made the Classic series a
collectable one - be certain to keep an eye out for the
remainder of
these pipes while they last!
As the classic series enjoyed 3 generations of production, a vast number of shapes exist. A sampling of those produced in the largest numbers is represented below, although almost all classic pipe shapes have at one time or another been in regular production.
