About The Sherlock Holmes Heritage Pipes
- Thread starter Davy
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I finally bought one a couple of years ago, and it was just a shiny black pipe. But if you want a shiny, black pipe, then it's great.
I have a few Heritage finish Petersons, and two actually have decent grain under the finish, while the third is nearly black with hints of boring grain. If you watched the 2022 POTY drop, there was a much smaller percentage of 'nice grain' pipes (e.g: Terracota) than in 2021. I think that Peterson is having trouble finding good briar, and we'll see more and more Heritage finish pipes, and they'll keep getting darker
.I read an old advertisement from a pipe-maker once, that emphasized that their pipes were never dark-stained, and that such pipes were just to hide bad grain. That was back in the days when what was considered a 'bad grain' pipe would be a higher grade in today's world. The old pipe-makers would have tossed out many of the stummels that we fill and stain today.
As much as I enjoy a smooth pipe with nice grain, the dark finishes have their appeal to me. But I find I am enjoying sandblasts and rustication to be more aesthetically pleasing, for Petersons and beyond. Nice grain is, er, nice, but sandblasting and rustication are arguably more labor intensive and allow for more individual expression from the person or persons making the pipe. I also find myself enjoying the texture of these finishes, and for Peterson's especially, the rustic looks of these finishes fits their classic-meets-muscular aesthetic very well. I know current Peterson rustication has its fair share of haters, but I LOVE it, and it sure is nice to save a few dollars on what is essentially the same pipe.
If I had to guess, and others have said this already, but I think a lot of pipe makers, especially those involved in making pipes in great numbers, are starting to have supply issues, and dark finishes and rusticated/sandblasted finishes make it easier to hide trivial imperfections than lighter or more colorful stains do.
If I had to guess, and others have said this already, but I think a lot of pipe makers, especially those involved in making pipes in great numbers, are starting to have supply issues, and dark finishes and rusticated/sandblasted finishes make it easier to hide trivial imperfections than lighter or more colorful stains do.
I agree that the craggy rustic pipes from peterson are appealing. I like smooth as well but, like some others stated the heritage and ebony l dont care for. I recently bought a Rathbone and chose the rustic over blasted. No "normal" shade of stain was left at that time.
I bought my only Rathbone in the rusticated finish last year and like it fine. Find that the rustication patterns tend to differ among various Pete lines. Bought a rusticated B42 spigot this year and the rustication pattern was a bit different and more to my liking than the Rathbone.
I don't mind the Heritage finish. I'm not a grain connoisseur. I prefer a smooth finish, but the quality of the grain is not a consideration. More important to me is the overall appearance. The shape, proportions, and fittings are what I look at. If the winning pipe is in Heritage, ok. If it's a lighter finish, cool. If it happens to have interesting grain, even better.
I'm with you. I'll pass on the ebony and I don't mind the heritage but a poorly shaped stumel I just can't get behind. Some of the 302 and 303 shapes especially have had some awful examples of shaping.
I picked up a heritage squire. I picked a splotchy looking one on purpose. A lot of good grain peeking through under the right light. I can’t really pick it up with my cellphone tho. So I like this one but not really a fan in general. Gotta atleast have a lil something to look at.
