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jazz

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 17, 2014
813
65
UK
Firstly, please forgive my wordiness.
I believe it's nearly four years since I purchased my last pipe. 3 years, 7 months and 28 days to be more precise. I haven't been counting, honest! I just worked that out :) It's not that I haven't heard the call because I have wanted many in that time but I have managed to resist. I felt I had spent enough on pipes in the relatively short period of time I had been a pipe smoker (2012) and decided that it was time I focused on what exactly it was that I really liked. Not just in pipes but also in tobaccos.
In that time I have figured out I'm mainly, but not exclusively, a Virginia guy. I like my Virginias and I like all types of it and I especially like it if it comes in a flake, coin or plug form. I like it with Perique and I don't mind it with Burley and I also quite like it with Dark Fired. I'm not really a fan of Aromatics (there are exceptions) and although I started out liking Latakia mixtures I find them less of a pleasure to smoke these days and rarely buy them.
As far as pipes are concerned I started out lusting after bent pipes but after nearly six years gathering experience I now know I'm a straight and 1/4 bent type of chap. This for many reasons but top of that list is functionality. Filters, well, I don't like them with the exception of the Savinelli balsa type. That works well in sucking up the moisture for me and I don't care what anyone says I don't believe they take out much, if any, nicotine because if it did I would miss it.
As I previously mentioned, the want for pipes has come and gone. Some I want for a while but I then go off of them and wonder what I ever saw in them but some desires linger longer. Some are unobtainable for many mortals, myself included. Some are obtainable but one finds it hard to justify the expense so puts them in the "one day soonish" category. And then there are the ones which linger in the mind that you can afford easily enough and so after a while, find yourself asking "Why am I denying myself the pleasure of this purchase?"
Four days ago I laid eyes on an old flame. A pipe I have wanted since I first saw it, even before I bought my first. I have seen it many times a year and even though it's been six or more years, I still fancy it. I have always managed to put it out of my mind relatively quickly by reasoning with myself in all sorts of ways but I have not been able to stop thinking about it this time. When I actually found myself thinking about it at bedtime I knew I had a problem and it was love. I even showed it to a friend. Something I never do. I'm unsure why I showed it to him. Perhaps it was in the hope he was going to tell me I was being foolish and to snap out of it. Or, perhaps I was hoping he would just say go for it. It's all rather pathetic when you think about it but he turned out to be the worst type of enabling "barsterd" and ordered me to absolutely purchase without hesitation.
So here it is. Not the actual pipe just a pic of the same on the web. Yes, I know it's a little ostentatious and that's not normally my type of thing either but it has a certain class and I just can't help but love it. I actually managed to get one from one of the UK retailers I have used in the past for a little under £100 which is cheaper than I have seen it before. Not terribly valuable and certainly not a one-off but I simply could not see it go to some piping peasant who wouldn't love it and who bangs out his dottle on his boot heel.
Savinelli Miele 128
s-l1600.jpg

Originally, years ago, I wanted one of this Miele series in the bent Dublin shape but as mentioned, I now realise I'm a straight pipe man. I have a Peterson Rosslare Royal Irish 221 in a similar combo and have always regretted the fact I bought that bent shape. I should have bought a straight so I was not going to make the same mistake again.
Anyway, I also bought a couple of new cobs. My friend has been showing an interest lately and I figured I would give him a couple cobs to see if he likes it. You know, return the enabling favour. I just hope they all make it to me in one piece sometime tomorrow or Friday. My experience with postage means this may yet to be a happy ending :D I'm still waiting for some tobacco that should have shown up yesterday.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Lovely pipe. And I commend you on your self-restraint in buying pipes. I try to follow your example, but after some months, took delivery of another. With care and maintenance, pipes are with you for years and years on end. Instead of getting old and worn, they glow with patina and well-enjoyed use. That's an elegant pipe and needs no explanation. I smoke my Savinelli's with an adaptor, those that need them, and only rarely with the balsa inserts. They smoke well with no insert or adaptor, but I like the slightly more focused flavor with the adaptor, personal preference.

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
I'm not entirely sure why I haven't purchased one of those, myself. Every time I see one of those Savinelli "Honey" pipes, I certainly think about it. That they come with that neat little honey dipper tamper is an added bonus. I don't think they make one in a 320, which would be fantastic, but I've seen a few others I'd like. Lovely pipe, enjoy the heck out of it! :clap:

 

jazz

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 17, 2014
813
65
UK
Cheers guys. It seems I'm not the only one whose eye this series keeps catching. Reassuring in a way.
Mso, I only have 1 other Sav and tend to use the adapter if I'm out of 6mm balsa filters but that is mainly because it's a full bent and likes to trap moisture. I suspect with this one being straight I will rarely use the filter in it. I have a couple of Stanwell's that are for 9mm filters and often use the 9mm balsa filters in them but depends on what tobacco I'm burning, really.
Anthony, I think you're right, I have never seen a 320 one.
I find that having a few of the more "showy/pretty" pipes rather useful when it comes to social situations. By that, I mean that some people appear to have a pathological hatred of smoking and smokers until they see one of my prettier and well-kept pipes. I often see their expression and attitude change immediately right before they make a grab to handle the pipe themselves and once they have done this they seem to form a bond with it. The result is they really rather enjoy seeing it everytime you pull it out to smoke it and don't want to prevent you from breeding. A few of my friends' wives have done this. However, if I had pulled out one of my more gnarly looking briars with manky oxidation on the stems that I'd been banging on MY work boot the reaction would not have been the same. I'm certain of it.

I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences.

 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
It's a lovely pipe. My local B&M has that same pipe and I enjoy looking at it. So much more striking in person. You will have a great relationship with it for sure.

 

jfred

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 30, 2018
118
6
Great post and what a beautiful pipe. Congratulations.

I have been struggling a bit with PAD lately, but have shown great restraint for more than 23 days, and I will NOT go and do a search for Miele now... Ok, maybe just a quick look.

 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,941
12,038
That is a beauty! I have two Savinelli's on my wishlist...the Miele 316KS and an Oceano. I'm a big fan of colored stems.

 

jazz

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 17, 2014
813
65
UK
That is a beauty! I have two Savinelli's on my wishlist...the Miele 316KS and an Oceano. I'm a big fan of colored stems.
We have similar tastes because the other Sav I have been resisting the urge for lately is this Oceano Rusticated 510 KS
p350zms_510_01.jpg


 

highwaycobbery

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 14, 2015
532
1,209
North cacallaky
I have the bulldog shape of this pipe and it is one of my best smoking briars. First they are hand made, says so right on the side. They turn a beautiful molasses brown with enough smoking, enjoy you made a wise choice.

 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
If one is to resist PAD they ought have a rational strategy for abstinence, not that it will always provide an adequate defense. With it you at least have something to hold onto when the urge is fierce. Then there is practiced forgetting buoyed by not looking at/drooling over its picture online. Finally there is good old-fashioned stubbornness; just refuse to give in. If you have made up your mind to be pipe abstinent, then god*mmit, hold the line!
I love how the OP makes and illustrates the points; it made my recall my struggles. And I think there are probably a number of other members who struggle the same.

 

lifesizehobbit

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 23, 2015
913
386
I have that same pipe I acquired at the St. Louis show a few years back. Have yet to smoke it; only pipe I have where I've never loaded a bowl. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed a "sweet draw" on the bare pipe.
Congratulations!

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,078
Carmel Valley, CA
002-033-24116_1.jpg

Wanted to say that's a honey of a pipe, but all the obvious ones like that were already taken. Would have bought it when I lived on an almond orchard, where the bees worked their magic every Spring. May still do.

 
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