Can You Pick Out The $55 Chinese Pipe?

[Mike N]

Below are 5 pipes I own, each with real bamboo and ebonite stems. Four are made by Danish craftsmen Tom Eltang, Mike Bay and Henri Sorensen and range in price from $400 to $600. One is a Chinese made pipe I just bought on eBay for $55.

Can you pick out the $55 pipe? Top to bottom 1-5. I’ll post the answer later this evening.

(click on photo to enlarge)

 

[autumnfog]

Bottom second?

 

[hall222]

#2 (from top)

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'll go with this one. Looks to be the most attractive of the bunch.

 

[georged]

The second up from the bottom. Lazy/rushed/crappy stem work never lies.

The bamboo also looks weird (but there like 6000 varieties of the stuff, so that could account for it)

 

[mikethompson]

I usually see Chinese pipes on the roof of my house, so I can't really tell.

 

[K.E. Powell]

My guess is on the red pipe.

 

[mingc]

My guess is also second from the bottom. I'm guessing based on size; it's bigger than the others. The budget Chinese briar makers seem to favor larger pipes.

 

[rectifythis]

2nd from the bottom.

 

[xrundog]

It’s always a loser guessing from a pic. But the stem looks bad on second from bottom. Stem shank proportion looks wrong as well.

 

[Alejo R.]

4 looks artificial bamboo to me

 

[PipeIT]

I'll go with this one. Looks to be the most attractive of the bunch.

View attachment 340627

I’m with Chasing on this +1!

But, the bamboo doesn’t look as nice as the other pipes…

 

[scloyd]

I'll guess number 2...second from the top.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Second from bottom. Bamboo looks bleached, and the “divots” around the ring look too symetrical and machined to be natural.
But I know next to nothing.

 

[Scottmi]

Top pipe #1. The rim gives it away?

 

[shanez]

Middle?

 

[BenMN]

From the top:

Bay
Eltang
Eltang
Henri
China

 

[dottlejockey]

I'm with the second from the bottom as well. What made it stand out to me was the edge of the rim. Looks like HS Pipe Studio work. I have several and a couple have this rim detail. Not to mention stem length.

 

[filmguerilla]

Either #4 or #5. I'm gonna go with #5 since so many others are going with #4.

 

[captainsousie]

Let's go through them.

Top is crappy rustication which leads me to believe it's not the Chinese pipe.

Second seems well made overall and the stem says artisan.

Third has telltale signs of a favorite smoker at the button so no.

Fourth says a standard copy so maybe .

Fifth says it has terrible proportions but the stem is good so probably not

The first is so obvious as to be dismissed as a bad copy but the fourth screams copy to me. I'm torn between the two.