Björn of Sweden

Björn of Sweden is the brand name Swedish maker Björn Bengtsson stamps on his pipes. Records indicate Bengtsson, born in 1947 in Malmö, learned the craft not in Sweden but in Denmark, at Poul Rasmussen's workshop in Copenhagen; for this reason, although his production has taken place in his own country, it is technically tied to the Danish School tradition.

His pipes never reached serial-production scale at any point: it is a limited total, faithful to classic proportions, single-toned, and largely destined for foreign markets.

Stamp and Dating

Bengtsson's pipes are distinguished by the "BY BJÖRN" and "SWEDEN" stamp struck across two lines. Alongside the stamp sits a three- or four-digit number; the leading digit or digits give the month, the trailing two the year. On this reading, a pipe stamped "1086" is an October 1986 piece. The practical result matters to collectors: while the work of many makers of the same generation can only be roughly dated through shape and material, here the exact month of a given pipe's production can be read directly.