How much is a pipe really worth?

[searock]

"Spend money on tobacco, not pipes."
I agree with you... somewhat. But the fact is the pipe makes as much diffence in the quality of your smoke as the tobacco. The best tobacco in the world can taste like hell if smoked in a bad pipe. It's a matter of balance. I buy pipes to smoke, not to look at or to garnish envy from other pipe smokers. Your choice of a Nording is fine. Mine would be to spend the $100 on a good pre-owned Castello. We each have our favorites. Happy new year!

 

[unclearthur]

Everyone should have a Pete or seventy . Yes I am nuts but what a fun insanity!

 

[expatpipe]

300 or 400 is about tops what I'd be willing to fork out. But I also don't just look at the pipe.. Where does the pipemaker fit in to pipe history/culture? What has he or she contributed? What kind of guy do I think him to be? What kind of hard knocks did he take to become where he is today? Did Daddy buy him a fancy studio etc. Or did he start out sweeping floors at a tabacco shop in the 40's to help support his single mom.. I cant reach the top bracket pipes that theese top pipemakers put out, but on the other hand, I can buy a darn good pipe that they made and is a great smoker and something to be proud to own. And I can also be happy smoking a corncob for a few dollars.. To each their own.

 

[yachtexplorer]

It is not uncommon to confuse price with value. The price is something set by the seller, which may or may not reflect an accurate assessment of the value of an object. Value is determined when a buyer comes along and actually pays a price.
What each of us is willing to pay for any pipe or for a particular pipe is subject to many variables. Among them are:
1 - Budget - ability and/or willingness to pay
2 - Taste - This can be educated, developed, refined or not
3 - Desire - This is often conditioned by nostalgia, competition with other collectors, rarity and felt need to complete a particular set or fill an empty niche.
4 - Perception of value - This can be either accurate or distorted by some of the factors above.
While it is possible to attain a perfectly good smoke with a cob or a barrel pipe, for some, there is more to the hobby than good tasting smoke. As in all things in life, there are those who take a purely utilitarian approach and there are those who take it to different levels.
Snobbery, whether looking down or in reverse, often rears its head in discussions like these. It is unseemly and adds nothing constructive to the discourse or understanding, regardless of the direction from whence it comes.
It is always best to try to state your opinion without attempting to characterize the behavior or opinion of others. This leaves room for others to differ without having discussions degenerate into a flame session.
We all come to pipe smoking from our own backgrounds. No one is right here, not even me :wink:

 

[unclearthur]

Well said Richard. If I had the funds I would only be collecting high end Peterson antiques. I don't so I collect those I can afford.

 

[duncan]

I am with those that said it all depends on the want of the buyer. If I had the money to spend on something like the Octopipe I would buy that in a sec. Not knowing what the cost of that was I could see paying 4-5 grand for that since that is a piece of art to me. I would smoke that puppy whenever I could. Since I can only afford sub 100 buck pipes I find what I like in that range and I am happy. I do not get jealous of others accomplishments I commend them. So in the short version if you like it and want it and can afford it buy it!

 

[pipetrucker]

A pipe is worth exactly what you are willing to pay to own it. No more, no less.

 

[iowamike]

I love all these opinions. Thats what is great about this forum and America, freedom of speech. Sometimes we get caught up in our own way of thinking. Yet another persons perspective can change your mind, or not. It truely was interesting reading them.
Thanks Guys

 

[bhpdrew]

As stated... a pipe is worth what you're willing to pay for it. I am not one to talk about pipes as art. I don't get pipes to be set in a shadow box or some case. I get pipes that will smoke well and that catch my eye. Like everything I own. Be it my guns, hunting gear, camp gear, or pipes... they all work for a living. That is what I want. A gun that shoots well when I need it to. A tent that keeps me dry. Or a pipe that smokes that bowl of tobacco I want to relax with.

 

[dubinthedam]

I think the ultra high grade collectors do a great injustice and deprive many of us regular guys from affordable high grades. I think the most I've paid is $250 and that was for a unsmoked Paolo Becker which would normally go for about $450. My tip is treat youself to a high grade or two to see waht all the fuss is about, but this "I only smoke high grades" is frankly hilarious. During the past 12 months prices on ebay are not market based entirely...bargains can still be had but the whole thing going off keel and a bit screw balled me thinks.
Great topic Max, very well written.

 

[obelus]

My personal upper limit comfort level also hovers around $250. If there's something I want that's over that limit, I keep my eyes out for a well-preserved or restorable estate. I like looking at the pretty shiny things that cost more, sometimes a lot more, and suppose I could save up for a high-grade art pipe. But my experience with a new Thames Oak Dunhill that my wife bought me for Christmas a while back leads me to suspect that actually smoking it would take some getting used to. Feeling nervous about whether or not I'm wrecking the thing is not exactly what I look for when enjoying a pipe. But since my worry is indexed to my means, I'm sure that it would kick in at a different point if I made more or less. BTW, through diligent practice I did get manage to acclimate myself to that T.O.

 

[brass]

I could see spending somewhere south of $500 for a pipe. But when shopping, I look for aesthetics, smoking qualities, weight and value.
Thus far, I haven't had to spend more than $100 to find pipes that met my checklist - mostly Savinellis and Stanwells. I should mention that I buy estate pipes and that some sold for over $200 originally.
Once pipes approach the $500 mark, my mind automatically starts going through the alternatives that that $500 could buy: smaller debt load, a new fly rod, fly reels, a new fishing kayak, a nice weekend trip for me and my wife, a college bond for my grandson, food and/or medicine for starving, hurting children, extra bullets to fight Islamic Terrorists, a meal of lifetime for two, or yes, a new pipe or perhaps an old Sea Rock or two. Don't think I'd ever spend much on a Dunny. I just don't get the attraction. But I'm sure some Dunhill owners feel the same about Sea Rocks.
Now, if someone were to gift me any pipe I chose, I just might choose one by Anne Julie. She has created some distinctive and truly beautiful pipes to my eye. And I would smoke it.

 

[mso489]

Price point is a matter of perspective. Some people lose perspective and spend money on pipes that needs to go to their expenses, but most do not. Most people in most areas struggle along to meet their needs, but a few break through financially and end up, suddenly or slowly, having many many times what they need to meet their needs. To these folks, a three thousand dollar pipe is like a fifty dollar pipe to me, a decision but not a major one. If you've just bought your fifth home, this one in Tuscany, and you spend serious time figuring out how to tax shelter your m/billions, two or twenty grand on a pipe is not an all-nighter decision. It seems to me that you can have much pleasure and challenge buying at the lower or medium end of things. You can get shabby, poorly smoking pipe at these levels, or pipes that smoke as well as any, and that's the pleasure of the chase.

 

[jackswilling]

"Thus far, I haven't had to spend more than $100 to find pipes that met my checklist - mostly Savinellis and Stanwells. I should mention that I buy estate pipes and that some sold for over $200 originally."
This is a good zombie thread to revive. I agree with brass.

 

[settersbrace]

Everyone, well almost everyone, has their limit on what they are willing to spend and whatever that number is I sincerely hope they get their money's worth. I've never been financially secure enough to drop $2500 on a pipe and never will be but I've got some nice pipes and some great smokers. That's all any of us can hope for, really. I can think of one man I know that if he were to get into pipe smoking today would no doubt by weeks end have at least one seven day set under commission by some well known and expensive carver. He would be buying up every ribbon of impossible to get tobacco on e-bay and would have already secured reservations for hotel rooms near all the worlds major pipe shows. I know this to be true because I've seen him in action when he's gotten interested in other "hobbies". There are folks like this among us, possibly more than one would think and that's why expensive pieces get bought.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Not all pipe smokers have the same budgets as us. Not all people have the same budget. I can buy a shirt down the road for $500. I can have a pair of shoes made for $2000. People will spend over a million of diamond rings. Ever fly and peruse the "Sky Mall" catalog in the airplane? You can buy toasters for $3000, no joke. There are people who just want what they think of as luxury. The price tag deprecates them for the "everyone else" of the world.
My jewelry is made and sold mostly for the everyday person, but I've visited shops that sell lesser quality stones for more zeros than I feel comfortable with. There was a barber in Birmingham for a while that charged $800 a haircut and offered high end cigars and drinks for their customers. There is just a world out there that we just cannot imagine. We can hate it, feel jealous, make fun of it or whatever, but it is going to exist despite what we think of it.
Champagne wishes and caviar dreams... It is what it is.

 

[jackswilling]

If you have the money get the best of the best. I don't sense any class envy going on here. I am glad that great, fantastic, extreme things are made/created and people buy them. God Bless them all.

 

[wyfbane]

I agree with most of what was said. I can see spending $ on a hand made pipe or an older piece of history. I have spent $325 on a pipe and can see the value in it.
I like what brass and cosmic said. There does come a time when you need to weigh out how much you are spending on a pipe and what else you can do with that money.
And there will always be the crazy upper end market for any commodity.

 

[daimyo]

I should point out that in most collecting circles, true value is based on what more than one person will pay for an item. This helps weed out anomalies and those who simply overpay. Now of course to a seller, what one person is willing is all that really matters but in most collecting fields people want to know the actual value of items. If Joe Blow spends 100k on an item but it will never sell for that price ever again and would only fetch 50k at an auction then the item is worth 50k and the buyer overpaid by 50k. That said, the buyer may be perfectly fine with that. Of course truly one of a kind items must be valued differently than the average collectible.

 

[sablebrush52]

To these folks, a three thousand dollar pipe is like a fifty dollar pipe to me, a decision but not a major one. If you've just bought your fifth home, this one in Tuscany, and you spend serious time figuring out how to tax shelter your m/billions, two or twenty grand on a pipe is not an all-nighter decision.

I know a great many very wealthy people and they didn't get that way by being profligate with their money - at least the ones who actually earned it. They will spend on family, a nice wedding, monetary gifts to other family members, that sort of thing, as well as charitable gifts. But you can bet your bottom dollar that that "fifth home" will happen only if it will appreciate and provide a handsome profit when sold. None of them ever offer to pick up the check and you can also bet that they will calculate to the penny their share of the bill, plus tip, assuming that they believe in tipping.
If one looks at a pipe from a strictly utilitarian standpoint - a piece of wood or some other material with two holes drilled in it for the purpose of combusting and inhaling a noxious weed - then there is no justification for spending more than a minimal amount, say, between $50 and $100 if new. And no pipe is worth more than that and could probably valued at less.
So above that price point other factors are involved, subjective factors that vary from person to person. Once one enters the world of subjectivity there are no absolute definitions.