TITANIC PIPES

RMS TITANIC

No other ship in history has captured the world’s imagination more than RMS Titanic.

Conceived by Lord Pirrie, financed by US financier John Pierpont Morgan, and designed and built by naval architect Thomas Andrews and managing director Alexander Carlisle from ship builders Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Ireland, White Star Line’s Royal Mail Ship (or Steamer) TITANIC was constructed to become the largest and most luxurious passenger steamship in the world.

Its construction started on 31 March 1909 and was completed on 31 May 1911. The fitting out of the interior would take another year. With a length of 269.1m and height of 53.3m on its four oval funnels (of which 3 were working funnels and the fourth one was added to demonstrate prestige and greatness) Titanic was the world’s largest ship and a true floating city, featuring unprecedented luxury and lavishness. It was the first ship featuring a heated swimming pool, gymnasium, Turkish baths, squash court, electric horses, miniature golf course, 4 electric lifts and the most luxurious 1st class cabins and suites imaginable.

With a (partial) double hull and 15 watertight bulkheads installed the ship was meant to stay afloat in case of a serious accident, which originated the legend of Titanic being ’unsinkable’.

Titanic had 3 passenger decks, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class, the latter mainly occupied by poor immigrants who hoped to find a better life in the New World. But it was the prominent first class passengers that captured the world’s imagination, among them American millionaire Sir John Jacob Astor IV, steel & mining magnate Benjamin Guggenheim, and the department store co-founder Isidor Strauss of Macy’s fame. There were reported to be a total of 48 millionaires on board.

Titanic started her maiden voyage in Southampton, UK on 10 April and stopped over in Cherbourg, France and the following day in Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland to take further passengers and supplies on board before continuing towards the final destination New York City, USA.

On board were almost 900 crew members and more than 1,300 passengers.

In the night of 14 April disaster struck, when 400 miles south of Newfoundland Titanic’s starboard side collided at 11:40pm with an iceberg. The damage was too severe for the ship to stay afloat. Captain Edward John Smith gave order to prepare the lifeboats and to send out the distress call. The 20 lifeboats theoretically offered room for 1,178 of the 2,224 people onboard, but only 710 people mainly from 1st and 2nd class and mostly women and children could be saved early the following morning by Cunard’s RMS Carpathia, the first ship to arrive.

All other ships arriving later at the site, among them the cable ship CS Mina from Halifax, could only retrieve dead bodies and floating debris from the icy Atlantic seas.

In September 1985 an American-French expedition located the Titanic’s wreck at a depth of 2.5 miles.

The Titanic pipes have been specifically created and manufactured to commemorate the Centenary of the fateful maiden voyage of RMS Titanic in April 1912.

The Titanic pipe is a classic Horn shape in Group 4 (4135) fitted with a precious metal band engraved with the inscription TITANIC 1912 to 2012.

The pipe gadget - an elliptical cylinder inspired by the oval chimneys of RMS Titanic - is extracted from stainless steel incorporating a dottler tool with magnetic closure. Into the dottler’s oval and domed Perspex head a piece of original hardwood procured from RMS Titanic has been encapsulated. This wood was removed from the seat of a damaged deckchair salvaged by the cable ship Mina from Halifax in 1912 during recovery of the bodies of Titanic victims immediately following the sinking of RMS Titanic.

The highly collectable Titanic pipes and tampers are presented in a very prestigious large wooden and leather presentation case lacquered in the colours of RMS Titanic. The surface of the lid shows a commissioned black & white painting of the ship, while the lid’s interior features a metal map engraved with the planned route of her maiden voyage. The pipe and pipe gadget are housed in a metal E.O.T. (Engine Order Telegraph) cradle inspired by the E.O.T. from the Titanic’s navigation bridge.

Each set is accompanied by its numbered and hand-signed limited edition certificate.

This series is strictly limited to world-wide only

- 100 pipes in Shell Briar with Sterling Silver band
-   75 pipes in Bruyere finish with Sterling Silver band
-   25 pipes in Amber Root finish with 18ct Gold band.

World-wide launch May 2012.

Copyright © 2012 by TECON GmbH
mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Alfred Dunhill LTD. London