Best Pipe Money Can Buy?

[stvalentine]

Really? From the looks of the picture, that pipe's never even had one bowl in it yet! [::] Seriously, that is one pretty cool looking pipe. Is that bowl meerschaum or ceramic?

It is genuine Meerschaum and I am guilty of not smoking it!

BTW, liked you "guy-rant" a lot! :clap:

 

[jackswilling]

SP has had this Todd Johnson Dublin up for a long time at $4,800.00

I don't understand how it was not sold long ago

This is the best pipe on planet earth.

https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/todd-johnson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=191789

 

[ophiuchus]

SP has had this Todd Johnson Dublin up for a long time at $4,800.00

I don't understand how it was not sold long ago

This is the best pipe on planet earth.

Now, that is an awesome looking pipe (love the wood; wish the stem were longer).
But ... forty-&#¢%ing-eight hundred dollars?!? I dunno ... 8O

 

[sablebrush52]

SP has had this Todd Johnson Dublin up for a long time at $4,800.00

I don't understand how it was not sold long ago

This is the best pipe on planet earth.

The write up is hilarious. Reminds me of the art reviews I used to read now and them when I was showing and selling in galleries. It's a nice looking pipe, but $4800 worth of nice?

 

[murica]

The Dunhill duke street posted here this morning.
Its the best you can buy. For 1200 at least.

 

[fishnbanjo]

Don't waste your time looking I own them all! Seriously it would be the one that you spend the most time smoking from your rotation, regards.

banjo

 

[mortonbriar]

Ha ha, yes you do Banjo! will you ever do a group shot of them all or do you not own a fish eye lens?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Cobs aren't expensive.
If you're wondering about Briar pipes, it's either a matter of time (e.g. James Cooke), demand (any number of well regarded makers), or marketing (modern Dunhill).
Of course they all make a fine product, but the point of diminishing returns is still much lower than the cost of the average Artisan pipe, and of course perceived value will also change with the level of investment that an individual has in a given subject.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

On the subject of pipe design, there are a lot of fine points that most factory pipes don't quite get, from the lack of fills to all the potential tapering in the airway, but you generally have to pay a lot to get those finer points.

The big problem is you have no guarantee that any given pipe, of any price, will actually be crafted to the same degree as any other pipe, probably because everyone has their own definition of how a pipe should be made.
If you want to know that you have "the best pipe" there is no price to say as much is true, you need to learn what makes a pipe "the best", decide how much you agree or disagree with those points, then find a like minded maker and buy one of his pipes.
Which generally seems to mean people will spend a few years (a.k.a the rest of their lives) buying one of every kind of pipe ever made and constantly juggle what they deem to be "best" at any given moment.

 

[toobfreak]

It is genuine Meerschaum and I am guilty of not smoking it!

stvalentine, a pipe that beautiful deserves to be smoked! No matter how beautiful and collectable, any pipe is ultimately better loved and appreciated even more in allowing it to fulfill the purpose for which it was meant!

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I'm sure all this has been said before.... You can spend $12,000 on a pipe that may be quite a lovely carved piece of briar (it may or may not have a magic white dot somewhere on the stem) with beautiful grain, an expertly crafted stem, and drilled flawlessly.... and it may well smoke like crap. The best pipe money can buy is simple.... it's the one you bought, that is pleasing to your eye, comfortable in your hand, or hanging from your jaw, and delivers a great smoke. It might have cost you $12.000... it might have cost you $120.00.
...or maybe even just $12.00

 

[kane]

The Todd Johnson Dublin on SPC looks nice, but please indulge my ignorance, what actually justifies a price like that? Does it have rainbow unicorn horn trim? I know it's a hand made artisan pipe, but there are scores of the same easily in the sub $1000 range. What is it about a pipe like that that makes that price? Is it simply a matter of supply and demand, or is there something more concrete going on with it?

 

[philobeddoe]

I believe that a Bo Nordh has been sold for a little over $50,000.00, I'm certainly not saying it's the best pipe money can buy or that it's "worth" that money, but it's probably the most expensive pipe money can buy! I truly believe that there are diminishing returns after about the $500.00 mark, after that it's mostly aesthetics and pride of ownership.

 

[disinformatique]

@smokindreams SmokingPipes guys are pretty nice. you can trade in the wife for that Parks Cutty. :puffpipe:

 

[pipehunter]

Yeah, Bo Nordh pipes command an amazing premium. I didn't realize that one of his pipes had sold for so much. Thanks, philobeddoe.
There was something of a wunderkind carver in Germany in the late 70s and early 80s named Hasso Baudis. By all accounts, his pipes are as rare as hen's teeth now because he made and sold pipes for only five years. At the time, though, his pipes were in great demand (he was a real sensation, and only in his early to mid 20s) and his creativity was admired by pipe makers such as Rainer Barbi. One of his pipes was sold for something on the order of 100,000 DM, which at the 1982 conversion rate would have been around $44,000. He's the only pipe maker I can think of who gave Bo Nordh a run for his money, at least in that respect.
To the original post, and this has been addressed by many other posters, all of whom are probably wiser than me, the value of a pipe is an individual decision. For me, the traditional German/Danish pipes by Ingo Garbe are the best money can buy. For me (and possibly only me, of course*), his pipes are the epitome of pure pipe making, flawlessly functional and (almost) unerringly elegant.
I hope you find the best pipe for you!
*Well, this isn't strictly true. I believe Marty Pulvers also considers Garbe to be the greatest "purist" pipe maker, at least of the last several decades. But taste, smoking style, etc., vary so widely that this can't be considered any sort of blanket statement. Cheers!

 

[bigpond]

Pipehunter, thank you! I'd not heard of Hasso pipes before. From what I've been able to find some of his designs are rather clunky while others are inspirational. Speaking of which, looking at the following it's easy for me to imagine this is Mauricio Tombari's reason for being.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/germany/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=149491
#whatapipe

 

[bigpond]

Oops, lost half my post.
To the OP: your question clearly has a polarizing effect but I think it is a fairly reasonable one to ask, particularly for someone new to pipe smoking. No one really likes the idea of throwing away good money on a bad pipe. A lot of us have made missteps and this forum should be able to provide you some guidance toward finding a very well made pipe at whatever price point you're looking at.
If you let us know what you'd like to spend I'm sure you'll get a range of helpful answers. Jumping forward a step, based on my mistakes I've formed a list of a few pipe makers that have consistently met or exceeded my expectations.
-$100

Vintage Comoy's pipe with a piece C
100-200

No luck yet in this space
200-300

Peterson Deluxe...fair warning, I only have one but the bang for buck ratio is extremely high...again, sample size 1, unfortunately.
Jurgen Moritz, Austrian, very consistent

Ken Dederichs, German, excellent, a secret I've been keeping....whoops.
300-500

Yuki Tokutomi, simple and reliable

Claudio Cavicchi, perhaps the most consistent and reliable pipe maker working, imo.
Lasse Skovgaard, his pipes can occasionally be found in this space. He is, for my money, perhaps the best pipe maker currently working. Particularly when one values the pipe as a tool first, though I find his pipes quite beautiful usually.
500+

Imo this is the point at which the hairs are split so finely it's not worth discussing the differences. I will say I did pick up a Tao within the last year because I was pissed off he was charging so much and I wanted to tear the thing apart. Turns out he makes a mean pipe, particularly when it comes to bulldogs.
Other folks will create different list based on their own experiences. These are mine. The most treacherous spot ime is the 200-300 space. There are so many pipe makers working in this space that it seems it would be easy to find a nice pipe. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of my hand-made disappointments have come from this range. In part, this is why I recommend the peterson so highly.
Good luck in your search and I hope you find a pipe that meets your expectations.

 

[disinformatique]

@bigpond you bought a $3500+ TAO? Woah !!

 

[bigpond]

Wasn't that much. I may or may not have been drunk at the time.

 

[tschiraldi]

There IS a difference. Quality briar that has been aged / cured well will be lighter and will smoke cooler. A handmade stem will generally be more comfortable than a pre-formed one. The drilling / engineering will effect the draw, number of re-lights, and will be easier to keep clean if it can pass a pipe cleaner easily. To me, the grain is simply aesthetic. I've never been able to tell a difference in smoking quality between a good / badly grained pipe. They just look better. That being said, you can find good and bad pipes in every price range. For instance, I bought a new Ashton pipe (I LOVE Ashton pipes!). This one, however, had the draft hole at the very bottom of the bowl and it clogged up and smoked terrible. I took it to a pipe carver friend of mine who dug out the bowl a bit, which put the draft hole in the right place. Now it smokes beautifully! Ashtons are not cheap. It just goes to show, more expensive doesn't guarantee a great smoke.