Alan Brothers Pipes

I have ordered a pipe bag and tamper. Great customer service!

It looks like he is taking a page out of Talberts Ligne Bretagne idea except the prices are substantially higher. The pipes that are for sale look ok, but for 250-300, I would rather spend a little more and get a hand cut vulcanite stem from an artisan who takes the pipe from start to finish, but that is just me. These pipes are machine made in Italy and then hand finished by Jeremy who is fairly new to pipe making. I would be more comfortable if the prices were 150-200. It looks like they are not having a problem selling them, so if the market thinks the prices are fair, then who am I to disagree? Since they have acrylic stems, I won't be purhcasing any.

I believe I was their first online customer, I bought the black sandblasted fairmount. I'll smoke the living daylights out of it over the next week and try to get a review done by the end of the May. It will be posted on reddit and cross post it to here as well. @cigrmaster In response to a couple things, I really agree with the acrylic thing, and I took a chance. I really might hate the pipe just because of the stem. It's totally possible. However, if you take a look at that reddit post that Peck linked, Jeff divulges how much hand work actually goes into the pipes. It's not just final sanding and polishing. It's fitting the stems, funneling the airways, cutting the tenons, final shaping on a very roughly shaped stummel, sanding, staining, curing, etc. I think these will be a very good value, but then again I can't say quite yet. Mine will arrive this Monday, and hopefully I'll get some preliminary thoughts out to everyone. Mine was at their base price of $175, and I reckon I'll be satisfied with my value.

@friendlyneighborhood

I believe I was their first online customer

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lol.
love, crim

Tyler, did you get that at the show? Because theres no way you got that online and already have it by Sunday. @crimsonrat I knew by the ID numbers, some had been sold but I assumed they were sold at the show.

Their pipe rolls look interesting. I am all ready set with a roll/bag but if I was still in the market it would be in contention. I like the leather strap for closure.

Folks,
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to check out our site and see our work. My brother, Jeremy, and I have been hard at work for the past...well, almost 2 years now, to make this happen. Our goal is to offer the best smoking pipe at the price point. One of the comments above was correct--you can, in fact, find artisans to make you pipes at this price point. Believe me, I am aware of that. Nevertheless, I think that we have something valuable to offer at this price range.
I had a pair of pipes at the Chicago show to show a few people, and Crimsonrat was one of those I showed them to. None were for sale there, though.
Feel free to ask any questions you like. I'm happy to share.
Happy smoking,
Jeff

Well, Tyler, you do have the honor. Okay then, let's see the pipe!

Working on it. I only have 1 pic thus far, and it's a crotch shot sent to a pipemaker. Next day off or next time wife is out of the house I'll post one.
fwiw on Memorial Day: http://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/372mie/jeff_of_alan_brothers_and_j_alan_pipes_ama_on/

I'm sure these are fine pipes, but if one is going for the hand-finished route instead of fully handmade, why not drop almost half the price and get a Neerup Classic, Structure, or Ida?
I personally couldn't justify that price for a pipe that isn't handmade. I'd rather go for a Neerup, Ashton, or even a handmade Savinelli.

Handsome line of pipes. Limited selection right now, but that may expand. It sounds to me like they are substantially artisanal, each one unique.

I appreciate the kind words about the shapes. yes, our selection is limited. That is by design. We would prefer to make fewer shapes, but make them really, really well. That's the reasoning behind this. So, you can expect to have annual collections of pipe shapes that will be limited in numbers. Some shapes may be retired from the collection and not show up the following year, and others may become regularly available. Our goal is to make sure that the smoker/collector receives a beautiful, very well made, and perfectly performing pipe for his or her hard-earned money.

I wonder if artisan carvers whose work is in the $300.00 - $800.00 range aren't all/most/many going to go with a lower-priced line. Talbert/Eltang/Askwith, now J. Alan. Those who will typically spend $200.00 or more on a pipe are perhaps only 25%? of those dedicated pipe smokers that read the forums. Then, think of how many other pipe smokers there are who are happy with a Grabow and a can of Captain Black. Obviously these numbers favor the low end, despite that there are those who are growling and hungry for artisan pipes lurking in the shadows of financial responsibility, and thus unable to scratch that itch more than 1 or 2 times a year.
Although I'm sure a fine artisan pipe would add to the pleasure of a smoke, getting to solid enjoyment of same, let alone zone smokes, is much more a product of my frame of mind, what I bring to the smoke, rather than the pipe and tobacco that I'm smoking. (Do you see how hard I must try to be to keep my shoulder to financial responsibility?)

Is there a market for so many carvers? If so, why don't I see more pipe smokers?

Is there a market for so many carvers? If so, why don't I see more pipe smokers?

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The short answer is NO...there is not a market for so many carvers. The bar for entry is currently set pretty low- there's a plethora of information on the internet to let anyone get the information needed to get started making pipes. The suppliers for materials and tools are easily found on the internet unlike 30 years ago when it was very difficult to find quality materials and then deal with language issues in trying to order them.
The high end guys who make pipes for a living are going to try to develop more ways to make a better living- and that might be a combination of high end pipes, tooling, and hand-finished pipes like Jeff is doing. They have a sliver of a tiny niche market and they have to develop it as much as possible to keep the family fed and make a decent living.
The guys who make their primary living in another business (like myself) and happen to love making pipes might sell maybe 50 pipes in a good year- and at the end of the year find I've spent everything I made on buying tools, buying briar trips to Italy,pipe shows, etc. Hopefully, I can continue selling pipes, if I don't, I still get to feed the family...
I think the guys who are really going to be squeezed are the young guys in the $200-350 range who have jumped into this as a full time profession. I think a lot of those guys are going to disappear in the next couple of years.
On the bright side, I think the pipe smoking market itself is expanding- by a small percentage, but some of those people in the hobby have a fair amount of disposable income, and can afford to buy dozens (or in the case of Peck and Harris) hundred of pipes...and tons of tobacco...

The market for pipes, cobs to museum pieces, fascinates me. I just don't get into the hundreds of dollars price range, or I'd only be buying a pipe every three or four years. That's a good way to go, but doesn't satisfy the enthusiast in me. I have a few of what I think of as high-level pipes, but what are really better mid-range I suppose, and a number of pipes that are quality factory pipes, some handmade pipes by a carver who keeps his prices factory-pipe low but does fine work, and many hand-finished pipes. Surprisingly, with a lot of mulling, shopping, and holding off buying, I've managed to get a pretty good set of smokers -- actually very good to excellent from my point of view, but I'm trying not to toot my own horn. But the market fascinates me, and the higher ranges in price seem especially rarified and intriguing. Once you get to $800, especially with artisanal pipes, the competition and honorifics of the carvers get really complex. I guess it's like custom built cars; it's a small world and few carvers can live there for a career, but a surprising number do, it appears.