Peterson bowl grades

This year the world's oldest family-run tobacconist, James Fox, at 119 Grafton Street in Dublin, celebrate their 135th anniversary. In addition to the release of a limited edition cigar humidor and commemorative whiskey, they decided to release a special pipe: a Peterson, of course. So back in January, David McGrane, the Managing Director for the past 45 years, and Yiorgos Manesis, also of James Fox, met with Conor Palmer (Commercial Director at Peterson), Tony Whelan, Jr. (Factory Manager) and Jonathan Fields (head of Bowl Turning at Peterson) to create the prototype for the James Fox 135th Anniversary Pipe. Jonathan Fields, David McGrane, and Conor Palmer The Origin “Our main goal,” says Yiorgos Manesis, “was to create a unique pipe that would mark our long-term relationship with Peterson as well as underscore our Irish heritage. After talking our ideas through with Conor Palmer and having a few samples made, we settled on a design, which we are delighted with. We wanted to concentrate on classic shapes, as they have been our most popular sellers and are a choice for most pipe smokers. Knowing that availability can always be limited, we were happy to secure most of the shapes we originally wanted.” With Peterson's emphasis this year on army-mount pipes, it’s good to see some flush-mount Classic Range pipes as well. 03 Bent Apple When Yiorgos says “classic shapes,” he’s talking about many of Peterson’s best-sellers, and he and David chose nine that are extremely popular: the 999 Rhodesian, for example, which is pictured at the top of this blog, is perhaps Peterson’s best-selling shape. The 03 bent apple is probably Peterson’s #2 seller, although the 05 calabash (and original Peterson Sherlock Holmes shape) comes in a close third and always elicits one of those “Oh, that’s a Peterson, isn’t it?” comments. The X220 bent billiard is another classic (same bowl as the 312 Standard System and 11s De Luxe). 05 Calabash After that, for the aficionado of straight Petes (or “Stumpies,” as Phil Blumenthal has officially dubbed them) comes the iconic 120 Dublin, the 106 billiard and the 150 bulldog. Bringing up the rear are two of my personal favorites: the 408 quarter-bent apple and the B10 squat Rhodesian with its incredible V-shaped chamber. These are all war-horses in the Peterson stable with excellent track records, and serious Pete freeks will probably have at least one of these shapes in their rotation. 120 Dublin The Design In The Peterson Pipe we talk in some detail about how the company grades its bowls. Most pipemen will know that the better the grain and cleaner the bowl (without fills, pits or root marks), the higher a bowl will be graded and the lighter color it will be stained. Keeping in mind the stain color, a very good quality bowl was chosen for the JF 135th Anniversary pipes – the same as that used, says Tony Whelan, for the Sterling Silver, Sherlock Holmes and Premier System lines. 106 Billiard The bowls for the James…