Another example at $1000.
I can only imagine how amazing it would have been sandblasted.
Why are some pipes “expensive”?
- Thread starter DonutLuvr
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
I can only imagine how amazing it would have been sandblasted.
Send the pics but I don’t do deals with newbs.
Last edited:
Yes. Though I'd never pay much for a Castello. Maxim shot me a deal for an Old Antiquari a couple of years ago for $150 but honestly their button work leaves a lot to be desired.
It takes a special kind if douche to reply to a thread because they don't enjoy the subject matter.
Would you call it envy?
Would you call it envy?
Totally smacks of it.
I feel similar with folks who smoke English blends. What other foul things will they stick in their mouth is all I can think about.
I lost my taste for them some time ago. Got to a point that I could no longer taste anything but Latakia.
With all that diffusion in the briar on the side it would have been much better to rusticate it. IMO
Last edited:
Like with most of everything else, it boils down to perception.
Handmade artisan pipes take more time and effort to make, therefore they must be better. The counter argument could be made that handmade artisan pipes are the result of inefficiency and nothing more.
Someone may perceive the handmade process and resulting uniqueness as more desirable, while someone else may find no attraction in it.
Some value rarity and/or reputation. Others don’t value rarity and/or reputation that much.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
And there’s a certain level of herd instinct and monkey see, monkey do. If so many people think highly of whatsis, whatsis must be wonderful, worth the pursuit, and worth the money.
I’m not suggesting that there are no actual differences between pipes, just that they’re not to be bound by simple definitions.
One of my favorite pipes to smoke is a Brebbia for which I paid a whopping $2 on eBay. Best $2 I ever spent.
That doesn’t mean that every Brebbia, or every $2 pipe, is going to be a spectacular smoker. Nor will every expensive pipe be a good or rotten smoker. At best you’ll be playing the odds, based on how you perceive them.
Handmade artisan pipes take more time and effort to make, therefore they must be better. The counter argument could be made that handmade artisan pipes are the result of inefficiency and nothing more.
Someone may perceive the handmade process and resulting uniqueness as more desirable, while someone else may find no attraction in it.
Some value rarity and/or reputation. Others don’t value rarity and/or reputation that much.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
And there’s a certain level of herd instinct and monkey see, monkey do. If so many people think highly of whatsis, whatsis must be wonderful, worth the pursuit, and worth the money.
I’m not suggesting that there are no actual differences between pipes, just that they’re not to be bound by simple definitions.
One of my favorite pipes to smoke is a Brebbia for which I paid a whopping $2 on eBay. Best $2 I ever spent.
That doesn’t mean that every Brebbia, or every $2 pipe, is going to be a spectacular smoker. Nor will every expensive pipe be a good or rotten smoker. At best you’ll be playing the odds, based on how you perceive them.
It’s all of the above you said, sometimes craftsmanship, materials, sometimes just reputation Like in the case of new Dunhills that are average factory pipes going for high end artisan prices…. You can get a one of a kind hand carved Ardor for about 1/2 or 1/3 of a factory Dunhill, or a Neerup for 1/6, makes no sense but I assume Dunhill has the reputation that can command those prices, good for them even though I disagree…. I enjoy my lower mid end pipes, maybe if I had lots of extra cash one day I’d get a mid level artisan, but till then don’t care.
Most of the self called artisans strictly copy nording and tsuge. Or they buy those 10$ ebay pipes and sell on Facebook for 300$
Many of Tsuge's earlier shapes were copies of Stanwells. Many modern artisan shapes can be traced to Holm, Nordh, and Ivarsson.
That actually happened a few years ago, probably still happening. I've gotten Giubileo d'Oros from ebay for less than $50 that could easily have been flipped for a few hundred.
That's the plateu. Birdseye is one of the defining characteristics of the blowfish shape.
Rustication ruins a pipe. Nothing natural left.
