Hilson was a Belgian pipe brand produced by the Hillen family in Bree, with roots in the pipe trade going back to the 19th century. The Hilson name itself became especially prominent after WWII, and by the 1960s and 70s the company was selling a hell of a lot of pipes across Europe.
Most Hilsons were machine-made production pipes, but they were generally regarded as very good quality for the money. The catalog was broad, ranging from conventional billiards and bulldogs to more adventurous shapes, freehands, and some very 1970s designs. Lines like the Fantasia, Bolero, Avanti, Viva and Royal Club show just how much variety they were putting out.
Hilson ran into financial trouble around 1980 and was purchased by Elbert Gubbels & Zonen, the Dutch company behind Big Ben. The original Belgian factory in Bree was closed and Hilson production moved to Gubbels’ factory in Roermond, Netherlands. That makes Belgian-made Hilsons the earlier production, while Dutch-made examples are post-acquisition pieces.
Hilson is one of those European factory brands that’s better than the name recognition it gets today. The Dutch Gubbels stuff is perfectly respectable, but the older Belgian-made pipes are the ones I’d pay the most attention to, especially unusual shapes, freehands and higher-finish examples.
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