Pipe vs. Aesthetics: a Deal Breaker?

wyfbane · May 10, 2015

So has anyone here been to a Show or on Ebay and seen a pipe from a coveted carver at a screaming good price and just been put off by the shape? One of those carver that CAN'T make a bad smoker, but you just know you won't because of the shape?
I am looking at a von Erck on ebay that literally looks like a chunk of lower intestine. Great price (for now) but between the double stamp and the off putting shape I won't bite. Anyone else come across this?

wyfbane · May 10, 2015

231551361403 is the auction number to the pipe I'm talking about.

northernneil · May 10, 2015

The size and shape of a pipe is very important, to me, when determining if I will buy a pipe or not. Over the years I have learned that if I do not like the look, feel and weight of the pipe, I will not smoke it.
For example, I have a Caminetto that smokes like a dream, but due to the size and weight, it only gets brought out on the specialist of occasions as you need about 3 hours to get through a bowl.

peckinpahhombre · May 10, 2015

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/share-your-magical-smoking-pipe
'nuff said.

warren · May 10, 2015

A pipe must catch and please my eye first and foremost.

wyfbane · May 10, 2015

Peck, that pipe isn't ugly to me. This thing is crazy ugly.

monty55 · May 10, 2015

Interesting question. I guess I'm in both groups, I have to like the looks before I consider buying it. On the other hand I have not had the opportunity to make a purchase from a carver that I knew to turn out great smoking machines at a bargain price :? but I very well might have purchased something like Peck bought at a bargain price.
Peck, that pipe is not all that bad. I mean it doesn't look like a chunk of lower intestine as the OP describes the one he is considering... ok a nut sack, but at least it's bowl shaped. And I can certainly see that it appears to be a perfect flake pipe of the right size, with meatiness in all the right places.

saltedplug · May 10, 2015

Shape/form is the most prominent physical detail about a pipe. If the shape didn't appeal to me I wouldn't care who made it. I wouldn't buy.

cigrmaster · May 10, 2015

I have bought a few pipes that I am not enamored with looks wise, but bought it anyway because it fit my pipe criteria to a tee. I ended up getting a great smoker everytime and have never regretted going for smoking properites over looks.
Here is an example of a Rad Davis I really don't like the look of, the freaking thing is red and I mean a butt ugly red to my eye. But it is a killer flake smoking machine.

maxx · May 10, 2015

If the appearance doesn't attract me, I move on. If I am attracted to a pipe, I imagine it in my hand, smoking it. Does it look comfortable to hold? Is it too short, putting the bowl closer than I like? Is the pipe smaller overall than it seems from the picture? Is the chamber diameter less than I want at the moment? Does it use filters or have a stinger, which I don't want? Can I find that model with a finish I like more? Am I willing to pay what it costs? Is it too similar to what I already have? Does it fit a niche I want to fill. Does it do that in a way I prefer over other pipes I'm attracted to? What's the level of my attraction, is it high or low? And most importantly: will it get me laid?

wyfbane · May 10, 2015

Well someone stole that Erck for 199. I wish them well.

mso489 · May 10, 2015

Neither peck's nor cigrmaster's pipe is a visual monster to me. I have seen some pipes that are more scrotum-like than I would want to clutch, and others where the red color is overdone, but neither of these pipes fit that category for me. They do call the spherical shape a ball, but that's a good blast texture and not too urological to me. And the red pipe is fairly subtle, not tacky, by my lights. So either of those, from the good carvers, at the right price, would have been a buy for me. On the other hand, gross or crass aside, many pipes by pipe carving masters just don't move me. More often than not, it's not repulsion, it's just a kind of rebellion. The guy tried too hard and the pipe looks exhibitionistic, over-refined, artsy, or has too many elements without bringing them together well. Some of this is just my taste not matching theirs, and maybe some of it is just misfiring craft and design. I wouldn't buy something just for the low price, or just for the carver, or just for the two. But in these two cases, and in several purchases of my own, I'd say your intuition has guided you well.

wyfbane · May 10, 2015

I agree with you, Mso. I would GIVE my left nut to have found Peck or Harris' pipe for $199. I just couldn't bid on this one.

warren · May 10, 2015

When I see a pipe on a rack, in a display case or on a wall display, if it fits my eye, I ask for it. If a pipe does not immediately hold my eye I form no real opinion about it. I've found that only a quick scan of displays works best for me. Color, proportion, size and shape are important to me. The maker only enters into the equation when I am fondling and inspecting fit and finish.
I've mentioned before that I've only seen one pipe that would make me violate my rule regarding buying on-line. A picture of a pipe very rarely will elicit any emotional response. A photograph provides too little information and that may incorrect or skewed. A photo of a pipe on this site which is fully out of proportion, maltreated or gimmick looking might cause a roll of the eyes. This is only because it is right in front of me and hard to disregard.

seacaptain · May 10, 2015

Yep, if I don't like the way it looks, I don't care how it smokes.

tarak · May 11, 2015

I will absolutely not buy a pipe unless I like the looks. I wouldn't smoke a pipe I found ugly no matter how good.
And Harris- if you need to get rid of that ugly (beautiful) Rad Davis pipe....you know how to PM me! :nana:

lestrout · May 11, 2015

To me, pipe aesthetics is like flyfishing for trouts. Being confronted by the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of pipes beautiful, ugly and otherwise at the Chicago Show brought this home to me. By way of explanation, if a trout weren't attracted to a fly floating by, he wouldn't be motivated to sidle over to maybe inhale it. Also, if the fly didn't attract my attention when procuring it and then again when scoping out my fly box to decide what to tie on the line, it wouldn't have the chance to have the trout get a look at it. (I turn my back to the fish when I look in the fly box - I would want to have him so entranced by the fly before I tied it on, else I would have him scatter the contents of my box were he to leap into my box).
Actually, the mechanics of getting trouts to bite my flies are somewhat more complex, but we are talking about pipes.
hp and tl

les

brudnod · May 11, 2015

Once you have culled the amassed volume of pipes from your collection down to good smokers that have that je ne s'est quot esthetic you have arrived. Getting to that point is the trick. Smokability is first and foremost but if the pipe does not call to you from the pipe rack it is not going to get smoked.

samcoffeeman · May 11, 2015

I just scoped that Erck you were referring to. Definitely looks like a turd. I had an Erck that was mich nicer but it was huge so I sold it off. Pipes in my collection must be good smokers, and have that eye appeal. I can deal with a bit that is slightly uncomfortable if the pipe is designated as a hand pipe (not a clencher). No P-lips tho.

wyfbane · May 12, 2015

Sam, I agree with you. What are your thoughts on Peck and Harris' "ugly" pipes? I don't think they are ugly. This one on ebay was just bad.
What did you make of the nomenclature? It all appeared double stamped. I think the nail in the coffin was that. I couldn't risk smoking an intesting and later finding out it was a fraud. Ha ha ha.
I am the first to also concede that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have some pipes that my pipe buddy just looks at and shakes his head, but they are all representative (if a bit warped, thank you Italy) versions of traditional shapes. lol.

Pipe vs. Aesthetics: a Deal Breaker?

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