I’m jumping from one site to the next, looking at snuffboxes and I wonder, “How can I really be sure that any of these products are worth a hoot?” Well, I can’t. …but I know that you fine folks can certainly point me in the right direction! Now, I’m intrigued by Patrick’s Tripletech snuffboxes (namely for all of their functionality) but I’m seeing great work done by Georg as well. What can I reasonably expect from any quality snuffbox? Any do’s or dont’s? Help a snuffer out, would ya?
You can’t go wrong with a Patrick Collins box, be it a triple tech, regular single box, or double box. I own 4 of them and they are all very well made and beautiful.
No fear of leakage with his boxes?
I have three Patrick Collins singles and one double. I prefer a pinch method for most snuffs, so they suit me in that regard. None of them leak, they are all very tight. Occasionally one will get a little loose but if it sits in the bathroom while I take a hot shower it gets tight again. The double box compartments are a bit small and if your fingers are large they can be tricky. I find that once they are three quarters empty its time to either refill or empty them. If you prefer the back of hand method, I can’t say anything about the Georg boxes, though I heard they are good. For back of hand, I have two Bernard schmalzler bottles. One is stone and one is porcellein.
@rhs Be careful when choosing a snuff box that you get something that is specifically made for snuff. There are a few boxes on sale right now that are really pill boxes and when you put snuff in them the hinge is immediately jammed, which makes it useless. Very small round or oblong silver boxes are pill boxes although at least one online reatailer is selling them as snuff boxes. I bought one, not having checked the dimensions, and it turned out to be the size of my thumbnail and it sprung as soon as a few grains of snuff got into the hinge. A snuff box will take any amount of shaking in the pocket and not clog up. Beware. Also, unless you know what you are doing, be careful about things sold on Ebay as snuffs. Whilst you can get the odd fantastic bargain (I got a Georgian silver snuff for £10) a lot of them are either not in good enough shape or were meant for other things. One member here thought he was buying a snuff box and it turned out to be a soap dish. If you are buying on Ebay (and have enough time) get someone who knows their stuff to have a quick look. Boxes made for other uses can work out ok but thats usually difficult to tell without a close inspection. The best out there at the moment - excluding antiques - are Pat Collins boxes and Grudgings boxes. PC boxes are great but can be a touch delicate if you are using it all the time. Grudgings boxes are trouble free and in my opinion the very best. Check out McGaheys online. These are classic in every sense. A good cheap box, also, is the Wilsons slide top and if you like the tap top boxes the Toque flask is excellent.
I use a PC box nearly all the time, but my favourite box is the Wilson’s slide top box, it can hold quite a bit of snuff,and keep it in good shape. The only reason the Wilson’s is the favourite is because it was my first box, but like I say I use that and a PC box daily. Stefan
Thanks for all the insight! I’ll be exceptionally careful and report back when I’ve made a decision.
Oh how I long for a snuff horn or better yet a full out rams head snuff container, I forget what they’re called exactly snuff mull seems to ring a bell. And one of those handy little hinged boxes. My dads a taxidermist I bet together we could pull off a superb snuff mull.
The French Jura boxes are probably the best hardwood containers. Handled properly they will last a lifetime, but are expensive and increasingly rare to find. My main wooden box, which has metal ends, has seen heavy duty use since the 1970s and is still as good as new. The lid still closes with the report of a cannon and is as tight as a wooden hinged lid could be expected to be (it has no leakage whatsoever). On the whole, metal or horn boxes are best, since they hold coarse moist snuff well. As well as lasting more than a lifetime, they may also be rinsed so that a different snuff is not contaminated by what was there before. It is also easier to clear the hinge of any fouling. The best silver boxes are antique and have a gold wash inside. All new silver boxes I have seen leak from the hinge. Buying online is tricky. Not so long ago every tobacconist in Paris had a good selection of boxes - as did Fribourg & Treyer and Smith’s and many British tobacconists - and one could examine and handle the boxes in detail, and at leisure make the right choice. Harrods in London also had a very good selection. Now you have to gamble. A ten gram box is ideal. Most modern sliding-lid boxes are either too small or too large. It also appears that the lid loosens after a very short time, although some users have found means to overcome this.
@PhilipS - Jura boxes? Is that the company? The boxes that Grudgings import have a very feint ‘made in France’ stamp underneath the lid, so feint that I’ve had one for 30 years and only recently noticed it, would that be the same manufacturer? I once found the website for the company but didn’t save it and have never found it since.
@rhs, thanks for a great thread, and thanks folks for all the great advice. I too have been thinking about a nice snuff box or two and found a few PC boxes at Snuff Gear. I’m going to try to acquire one as a Christmas gift. 
@Snuffster No, they are the tabatière made in the Jura region of France. Many came from the workshops of St. Claude, and some posters here have examples. The genuine ones are made with tight-grained wood such as ebony, rosewood, or burl (or mixtures thereof including Madagascar wood) and usually have a zinc and nickel maillechort decoration. Of concave shape, with straight endings, its usual dimensions are: 85x45x20 mm, but larger sizes are available. Inferior copies have been made in the Far East. These boxes should always be opened by sliding the tips of the fingers under the lid (for equal pressure along the length) and flexing until it opens. I place the box in the palm of the left hand with the lid facing the fingers, and then curl the digits under the rim to prise it open. My box is dark brown, surprisingly heavy and has metal ends so that it may be left upright overnight to minimize dehydration of any remaining snuff.