LOLAs I wrote in another thread, I seriously don't believe that briar matters much -- sure, cure it properly and put holes in it, but all that soil-and-climate terroir stuff just doesn't make sense to me, especially since we all know that briar doesn't "breathe" anyway. [:lol:]
No doubt, cool. Thanks.The main differences I notice are in the stems and airways. Pre-1930 rubber stems seem to be of much higher quality than later ones. Some of the pipes I have have 100 years of age on them, but the stems were barely oxidized. On the other hand, how many green Charatan stems have you seen from the 1960s? The other thing you notice is the prevalence of the orific button, which I happen to like. Essentially, it precludes any chance of having a poorly made slit/funnel at the bit by having a continuous round airway all the way through. They're also rounded on the end, rather than flat, which I find very comfortable. Finally, many of the bent pipes have a conical rather than flat mortise, with the airway drilled high, essentially allowing them to function like a modified "system" pipe, especially as the tenons are flat and "stepped" rather than chamfered like "proper" tenons. More ways than one to skin the old cat...
Yeah, it is.And congrats on the red diamond Hesson -- I saw one of those the other day. Very modern and sleek looking. Modernist, even.
Awesome! Do that. My late grandfather's birth year, too.I just picked up a 1913 (my grandfathers birth-year) BBB. I love it. I'll try to post a pic later.
They're out there, at about $100-150 per inch.I'm always on the lookout for 100+ year old pipes w amber stems! But no luck so far.
I hear they smell like money, especially if they have "Barling's" scrawled across the shank.
That sounds about right. :mrgreen:They're out there, at about $100-150 per inch.