Ashton Love

[swilly]

Oh god, Ashton, Jimmy Craig, why do you torment me so. I see these pipes and I want them, at least one but ideally all three...

We shall see if they stay around for... oh, 4 more months for when I get back to the states.
-Swilly

 

[puffy]

I have one that's similar to the top picture.I really like it.

 

[ohin3]

That tanshell is just sick...thanks, now my PAD juices are all stirred up.

 

[marmal4de]

Goddamn I love Ashton's blasts, and hate Ashton's white stems. Middle is the one for me.

 

[adam12]

The white stem is amazing. He sure is doing his own thing now - perfect

 

[bigvan]

"...is about as gangster as a pipe can get."
Is that a good thing?

 

[weezell]

bigvan,in our day it would be "The Bee's Knees"or "The Cats Meow". 8)

 

[bigvan]

Because gangsters are known for their class.
Geez, Weezell, I'm not THAT old!

 

[swilly]

I'm such a sucker for a classic straight pipe... I've got two good pipes, one I've got for aro's and another for latakia blends. I have a tin of Patriot Flake that I haven't opened for two reasons, 1) I already have too many tins open and 2) I feel like I'd need a third for VA blends, and the only cobs at the pipe shop I go to in Beijing has, well, only Chinese cobs.
I'll see if I can make one of these cobs my "welcome back to America" present, haha.
-Swilly

 

[jchaplick]

I like the first two that white stem isnt for me

 

[brian64]

Absolutely beautiful pipes! I just happen to be smoking my Ashton full bent XXX at the moment. Wonderfully made and finished pipes. Hope to get another one day.
On a side note re: above comments, popular slang words like gangster, sick, bomb, etc. are signs of the times that come straight out of the collective sub-conscious. It's no accident or coincidence that a word like "bomb" has basically replaced "cool" these days. The current collection of slang terms is reflective of the very different times we are in now...I much prefer the old ones.

 

[markw4mms]

Nice looking pipes! I can see why you'd want them all.

 

[ssjones]

I missed out on a Jimmy Craig Sovereign bulldog on Ebay last week.
I have one, Taylor era Pebble grain Rhodesian. It wasn't drilled well, but I fixed that and now it is a great smoking (and looking pipe). Taylor Ashtons had some quality issues, so be prepared to ask a lot of questions or make some corrections. I've read nothing but praise for the Jimmy Craig line.

 

[hnryclay]

Are the newer Ashtons free of the engineering problems that plagued the brand in the late 90's?

 

[stogie37]

From 1997 through 2005 I owned over 40 Ashtons. Was unaware of engineering problems with these pipes?? Did own one Pebbleshell bent billiard with poor drilling though... Anyway, JC's blasts look incredible! Don't have one of his yet, but have downgraded my average price paid for new pipe acquisitions considerably, so unlikely that I'll take ownership in the near future

 

[hnryclay]

From 1997 through 2005 I owned over 40 Ashtons. Was unaware of engineering problems with these pipes?? Did own one Pebbleshell bent billiard with poor drilling though...

That is what I was referring to, there was a time when the drilling was not quite spot on. Some were great, some were not, which is fine on a $70.00 line of pipes, but inexcusable on a pipe that commands the sum Ashtons do.

 

[adam12]

Are the newer Ashtons free of the engineering problems that plagued the brand in the late 90's?

Henry I'll have to go with Stogie's assessment... the ones I always had problems with were 2004 and later. The 1990's ones I owned were just spectacular by comparison. (I never had 40 but I had enough off and on, and I kept about 6).
Were there specific problems with the 90's ones you had?
Incidentally, I think there have been a few Jimmy Craig ones (when he first started making the Ashtons, like 3 years ago) that weren't that great. The purpose of my above post was to say he's come a LONG way on a short time. I know that people are divided on him, but I like his stuff alot.

 

[hnryclay]

Honestly I only owned three, and they were fine... I have a friend who loves Ashton, I mean the guy has racks of them, only smokes the large almost jumbo canadians, he has had some problems with the drill of some of his pipes from that era. His are mostly Bill Taylor, so I don't know about the newest ones. He visited the factory in England, and ordered a pipe while there, which led to his fascination with the brand. Honestly thought if I had one that was drilled "off" I would be upset, for that price they should never suffer this fault. Really just wanted to know what people thought of the new ones, as I do think the blast work is very well done. I am on the fence between a new Ashton, or a new Ferndown, both of which still have that great classic english look.

 

[captainbob]

I'd take the top two pictured... How much did they cost if you don't mind me asking?

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[swilly]

They run $230-300. Thinking about it though, I might as well save by getting some cobs and saving the cash for more tobacco, haha.
-Swilly