$1000+ Pipes

[ssjones]

My cost threshold has definitely risen in the past 10 years! I remember when $50 seemed the max, then $100 and so on, as I got into vintage British pipes.

Looking at my pipe log, $400 was my plateau for an artisan pipe and $377 for a 1930's hallmarked GBD (that I treasure). I would have a hard time exceeding those marks these days.

 

[Old School 3319]

I see a pipe as a tool I mostly smoke Dr Grabow's and cobs. I am not the easiest on any of my tools and i just expect them to work not look good. My wife bought me 2 Nording compass pipe for father's day they were $45 thats my most expensive pipe

 

[haparnold]

The prices of pipes are a reflection of the willingness to pay of the consumers. Full stop. Not all consumers, but a certain segment of the market. I'm not a consumer of high-end pipes, but I have no bones to pick with people with the willingness and ability to pay $1,000+ for a pipe.

And nobody is forcing them to do it. In either a rational or irrational calculus, buyers of high-grades are betting that they will get at least $1,000 of value (i.e. utility) out of the pipe they buy. Just like the calculation I make when I buy an $80 estate pipe.

 

[petes03]

My cost threshold has definitely risen in the past 10 years! I remember when $50 seemed the max, then $100 and so on, as I got into vintage British pipes.

Looking at my pipe log, $400 was my plateau for an artisan pipe and $377 for a 1930's hallmarked GBD (that I treasure). I would have a hard time exceeding those marks these days.

My price threshold has risen too. I think your plateau of $400 is a good stopping point. I firmly believe that the point of greatly diminished returns is around the $500 mark. Beyond that, I can’t see any real gains in performance or even fit and finish. As far as some of your exquisite 100 year old pipes, well that’s a little different in my opinion. Those are more of a rarity, and are a little easier to justify, at least in my opinion. I still don’t think I would ever value them at much over the $500 mark, unless it was an extremely rare piece, or had some real history tied to it.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Many are mentioning performance as the main criterion for price. Folks that are paying over $1,000 (quite a bit less than that, actually) are not paying for performance at that point. They’re paying for aesthetics, rarity, collectibility, or a combination of the three. If performance is one’s only concern, there’s little reason to venture further than a simple cob, IMO. I’m not justifying $50k, but I know I’ve spent money on things that were “nicer,” when something cheaper could’ve sufficed, performance-wise.

 

[Guppy]

There is definitely a threshold for each individual when it comes to crossing over from utility to art. Sometimes it is the means to acquire them that are the limitation, other times it's just the interest. At the very core, nobody "needs" to smoke a pipe, it's all a matter of degrees from there. We all self sort out a different levels.

 

[canucklehead]

I think the most expensive pipe I have was about $280 (my wife bought it for my birthday, I would never have spent that much myself). It doesn't smoke anywhere near as well as a couple beat up ebay estate pipes that cost me less than $10.

 

[LOREN]

I think it gets to a point where it's just the name. Gucci purse can cost three grand, for what, maybe 50 dollars in material and labor? The name becomes very important to some people.

 

[mawnansmiff]

In my view, lashing out £1,000 on a pipe is a ludicrous waste of money, then I look at my wrist and I'm wearing a £5,100 IWC watch. "Why not wear a £30 Timex" you might say and I would answer "just because..."

It's basically horses for courses, and we all have our weak spots ?

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[mso489]

After some price point, from $25 to $100 or so, you aren't buying the pipe for its smoking characteristics; all of that can be had at low cost in a good MM cob, a Dr. Grabow, a Rossi or Savenelli, etc. etc. I chanced to pick out my Yello-Bole this week and was kind of amused by how well it smoked; it was not marginally good, it was outstanding. However, buying a piece of pipe art or superior industrial design that gives you joy every time you smoke it is perfectly understandable to me. Buying a pipe by one of the classical carvers that is both beautiful and smokeable is commendable. Many of us don't try to stretch our budget to do that, but for those who can, it can be a good thing.

 

[pappymac]

I always laugh when someone says "You can't get the smoking enjoyment from a Kaywoodie that you can from a Dunhill. The more expensive it is, the better constructed it is."

 

[Mr.Mike]

Smokingpipes had an article awhile ago about the briar cutter mimmo. I never understood or appreciated the amount material that can be gone through before finding a chunk of briar that is fit for a 1000+ pipe. That being said, I think anything over 1000 is nuts.

 

[sumusfumus]

I enjoyed reading thru all the comments and opinions. I can't really add anything, so I won't.

However.....personally....my "high end" pipes will never go above $250.00-$300.00 maximum...and even then, I better really love and must have that particular pipe. I could care less who carved the pipe. You can't smoke a name stamp.

I don't particularly enjoy using high priced objects of utility. I would be nervous, and afraid of dropping that damn pipe and dinging/scratching up a perfectly smooth, contrast-stain job that cost $200.00 extra. Not for me.

But only once, about 35 years ago, I designed a tilted magnum Dublin, and commissioned a custom-made pipe that was made by a famous carver that still works up in Vermont....(hint, hint) and who's noted for his special, deep blasted finishes, and hand-poured acrylic stems. The custom Jumbo pipe was well worth the price, I still have it, it still smokes perfectly....and the price was justifiable in my mind. Never regretted spending the extra money for a unique piece.

I look at some of these hideous extravaganzas that look like diseased tumors, space ships, pipes that are covered with Super Hero faces, carved points, spliced bamboo, and deer horns, and bear claws sticking out...and I wouldn't even want them near my mouth! But hey......to each his own.

Plain vanilla still works for me.

 

[LOREN]

If I had the money to easily by a Rembrandt I might buy it. But, in all honesty, I would be purchasing the name. I hope I would ask myself, "Do I need this painting more than someone who may need a helping hand?"

 

[ofafeather]

If I had the money to easily by a Rembrandt I might buy it. But, in all honesty, I would be purchasing the name. I hope I would ask myself, "Do I need this painting more than someone who may need a helping hand?"

Or potentially purchasing the work of a living artist which helps art and artists thrive.

 

[boston]

I have never purchased a pipe for over $1K, but I have come close, and I have a couple that might sell for that price now. When I collected, I would purchase one-of-a-kind pipes, always from individual carvers or boutique houses. They were, and are, very beautiful to me, and there is a story behind each one of them.

Having known a few carvers, I can tell you the job appears to be a labor of love; these people spend alot of time and money equipping their shops, buying raw materials, etc...and they lose every time they start carving and later find a fissure or defect in the wood. Considering the time/cost of material etc....very few of these folks are going out and buying fancy cars with their proceeds. Some of them don't make it....they try and try but they can't make enough $$ to stay in business.

I'm a thrifty Yankee now, and the only time I acquire a new / special pipe is a very rare occasion, and I acquire it in trade. Now....making a carver rich because they have a hard job is not "our job", if you will, but I can understand why a carver might feel that they produced a masterpiece, and they may have put many many hours into it, maybe many many days of hours. Is their "art" worth our money? Sure, for those who have the money and interest in it. As others have said, it's worth it to someone, and by the number of pipes I see on SP and elsewhere for over $1K, there are collectors buying them. Thank goodness for that, because it gives carvers a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[kcghost]

If pipe costs that much that's what it costs. People with mega-money aren't buying these things as joke. In practical value it can't possibly smoke any better than a well made $500 pipe but is frequently a status symbol that is worth many what it is an instrument of pleasure.

 

[mso489]

With works of art, pipes or otherwise, the downside is that you cease to see them. When you go to a museum to look at paintings, if you engage with it, you see them quite deeply, you are there in the moment and applying your mind and emotions to the effort. If you had one of the paintings at home, after some months, you'd cease to see it. You might do so from time to time, but perhaps less and less. One good thing about having "too many" pipes is that by the time I smoke any particular one, it is as if I am seeing it again for the first time, or somewhat, anyway.

 

[doctorbob]

Like some of you, I'm more a collector than a connoisseur or a day to day hard-boiled smoker. I'll pay for history, more for historical rarity. I spent 800 once on an unsmoked 1950 Dunhill Shell LB in it's box, but that is/was a one time thing. Was it worth it to me? Maybe, maybe not. I don't regret the purchase though. History has value to me.

 

[daveinlax]

I always laugh when someone says "You can't get the smoking enjoyment from a Kaywoodie that you can from a Dunhill. The more expensive it is, the better constructed it is."

I laugh when I read claims like this because I've been around this hobby a long time and I've never heard anyone say this in fact most of the time it's the opposite. ?