Estate pipes?

[nitemair13]

I've seen several mention buying Estate pipes which I've learned are older, used pipes (Some unused, but that seems to be rare. Correct me if I'm wrong here). I know nothing about buying an estate pipe or even how to go about such a thing. I've bought only new pipes but the idea does intrigue me. Is there an "Estate pipes for dummies" book or article? Or can somebody explain what I should be looking for and how to tell what's a good price and what's not?

 

[opus777]

Good question nitemair. I have found YouTube to be an excellent resource for various pipe/tobacco questions that I have had. I would think the estate pipe topic would be covered.

 

[B18]

Nothing wrong with unsmoked estates. You know that the hasn't taken a beating.

When buying smoked estates, I would always ask for better pictures of the chamber, finish en button.
The price would depend on the state of the pipe and the pipemaker/factory. As there quite a few, each with different gradings and prices. It is hard to determine if it's a good price.

But if you like the shape, the state of it and the price, than just buy it.
Buying estates can save you hundreds of dollars and high grades up to a thousand or more. If you want to support the artisan pipemakers, buy those new.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

It really depends on what you're looking for. Pipes such as Kaywoodie, Dr. Grabow, and other what I call "drugstore" brand pipes can be found at quite a low cost, and even lower uncleaned and unrestored. Other higher end brands can be found at 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of new, sometimes for more or less depending on condition. Some remain quite close to the cost of a new one, especially those in the upper higher end range. Best thing to do is study the cost of similar pipes to the one you're interested in and pay what you're willing to pay. A pipe may be worth 100 dollars to you, but 150 dollars to someone else.

 

[irishearl]

Estate pipes are often a great value. Probably 2/3 of my collection were estates.

 

[jpmcwjr]

"Estate" pipes can be quite new, are are seldom part of a deceased's estate. Really now means "used" mostly, or even second hand if unsmoked. But a great field to till, and one great reason to attend a pipe show.

 

[buster]

I've had pretty good luck buying estate pipes on eBay. I have about six from the 1940's that looked almost brand new. I've also found a few at local antique stores. If you do go to antique stores talk to people working there. One gentleman I spoke to said he had a few in storage but hadn't brought them in. I asked him to call me when he did and I picked a few out for like $12 each. Searching eBay can become addictive so be warned but you can find some goodies if your persistent.

 

[brassmonkey]

I have been buying estate pipes when I find good ones, which is not as easy as it would seem here. Ive looked in over 20 junk/collectible/antique stores and markets in many different towns around where I live but pipes are not easy for me to find. Smoking is not popular here anymore due to government policy and excessive taxes.
My advice, if you find an estate pipe, is to examine it very carefully - Look for fills or cracks in the briar, dings around the rim from being tapped on a hard surface. Pull out the stem to check the fit and peer inside the stummel to see if the drilling is centred, also check the drilling into the bowl to see that it is not too high or low and is also centred. Look for scoring and scrape marks inside the bowl caused by rough reaming/scraping. When you put the stem back on check that it lines up with the stummel and the edges are flush, also check for bite marks, holes or chips to the stem.

The stem will usually be a green/brown colour from oxidation but will polish up to its original black finish.
Better to spend 5 minutes inspecting it rather than get back home and find a crack or other problem that was missed.
Most problems can be repaired but you can save yourself the trouble by being a bit picky.
As to dirt and grime - sometimes the pipe looks a bit un-inviting due to grime etc, I've found pipes with the bowl half full of tobacco from its last smoke, but a couple of hours of cleaning and polishing will usually bring them back to near pristine condition.
Once you have acquired a few you will quickly become adept at appraising the pipes before making a purchase.
Happy hunting. I Think that about covers it.

 

[nitemair13]

Ebay is really the only place I've looked at idk what I'm looking at even then. Most are up for auction that I've seen but I haven't delved very deep into them. I may wait until the next pipe show and go with something I can physically inspect.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sometimes you get a lemon, sometimes you get lucky and find a diamond in the rough if you're willing to do a bit of cleaning.
Before

After

 

[buster]

I've purchased pipes from this person on eBay a couple of times. I like pipes with smaller bowls and he somehow finds them on a regular basis. He refers to them as a shag pipe. Because they were for quick smoke breaks using shag cut tobacco like used to roll cigarettes. The ones I got from him all were in excellent condition and at good prices. I haven't bought a pipe in a few years but he has some good looking ones in stock. Hope this helps?
https://www.ebay.com/sch/goodenoughpipes/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

 

[mso489]

Depends on your taste and how involved you want to get. If you just want to try buying a used pipe, and don't necessarily want to do restoration, I'd start with a retailer like smokingpipes.com. They show you a photo of exactly the pipe they are offering and give you a rundown on its exact condition and grade it. They do offer some unsmoked pipes that have had previous owners too. And as long as you don't smoke it, you can return it if you don't like it. They will treat you well and are honest. From there, you can go to any level. Ebay is the wild west, and you can great deals or get ripped off, so proceed with care, and buyer beware. If you have antique stores, yard sales, flea markets, or other outlets that offer old pipes that you would clean and restore, after examining them thoroughly, that might be the best approach, so you can see and handle exactly what you are getting, and you may be able to negotiate the price a little. For some reason, these are not available much in my area. I'm not a cake builder, so I like new pipes mostly, because I can start them out right and never let them get reamed.

 

[sablebrush52]

Estate pipes are a great way to add some quality pipes at a fraction of what they would cost new. They can also be a total waste of funds. You need to have a clue about what you're buying. If you want to buy with assurance there are several dealers in used estate pipes who offer properly cleaned pipes at very good prices. I would be looming at
http://briarblues.com/
and
http://pulverspriorbriar.com/index.html
to start. These are my two favorite sellers and there are other excellent sites as well.
You can find excellent values on eBay or be total roadkill. For starters I would recommend following some auctions of pipes you are interested in buying just to get a sense of market prices for those pipes. Don't bid, just follow auctions and note both price and condition. Ask questions of sellers, get pictures that inform you about the condition of the item up for auction. Would you know if a pipe has been abused just by looking at it? Would you know if a pipe has been botoxed to hide damage? If not, stick to low cost auctions so that you don't have a lot invested if the pipe turns out to be a dud. As has been said, sometimes you find a "diamond in the rough" that you can clean up. But sometimes it's just a lump of coal.

 

[newbroom]

When I started acquiring enough pipes to have a 'rotation', it was through ebay estate purchases.

"Winning" an auction for a desired pipe is in itself a bit of a thrill, but one you should put into perspective.

Old pipes require cleaning, but they're durable old things that have been road tested, broken in, and still have what it takes to make your tobacco sing.

Put yourself on a budget, don't exceed a certain price level, buy typically known brands.

My first ebay estate win gave me a batch of corn cobs, some used, some new, and one which turned out to be a meerschaum that only LOOKED like it might be a cob.

The next one provided me with a few eminently smokeable no name type briar pipes with which to begin my education concerning briar and things like stingers, airways, bowl sizes, finishes, shapes, stem materials, and the fine points of 'buttons' and slots.
I've got a bunch of brands now, including Savinelli, Comoys, Butz Choquin, Stanwell, Peterson, Barling, Dunhill, Ascorti, and more, but I find myself going to the older models made by Grabow (and cobs) most often.
Pipes that have been gifted to me will also receive more love, because of that 'connection'. Brand is secondary, performance is primary.

 

[pappymac]

I keep searching the junktique shops because the wife likes to take weekend trips to look at the antique/collectible/junk shops, street fairs and flea markets. Mostly I see Dr. Grabows, Medicos, Kaywoodies but I also have been lucky enough to find something nice in places I wouldn't expect to find pipes. A couple of months ago, I found a Salmon & Gluckstein with a silver band that was hallmarked for 1890. Two weeks ago it was an Ascorti made before 1984. Each was $35 and after cleaning and sterilizing, are pretty damn good smokers. My other finds include a Savinelli Giubileo D'Oro bulldog, a Mauro de Armellini Cavalier, a Savinelli Non Pareil Oom Paul and an early 1950s Kirsten.
I don't find the pipes everytime we go out but I do get lucky occasionally.

 

[bnichols23]

As far as good brand choices, Savinellis of course are always good as estate pipes, as are older GBD,s & Comoys. Their current stuff may not be *quite* as high quality as before their acquisition by megacorps like Cadogan, et al., but for everyday smokes they're still good. The real bennie is that good relatively low-priced choices from "back when they were REALLY good" aren't that hard to find, GBD in particular.
[[If you see a GDB that has a little oval brass logo in the stem, it means it was pre-Cadogan & very good quality. A similar key for Comoy's is if the seller mentions something like "3-piece [or "3=piece"] C." It was a complex inlay process that used 3 drillings, a circle for the white C, a second smaller one for a black inlay inside the letter, & the last for another black inlay to open the letter up. Yeah, serious, they were that thorough; shows you the care they put into their pipes back then. When Cadogan bought the company they went to a single inlay, & later to a laser imprint. Doesn't mean they're not good enough, just that they're not quite AS good as back in the day. You can find some good info on it at pipedia's Comoy's entry. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Dating_Guide. One last word on Comoy: if you can find one of their "Golden Grain," "Pebble Grain," or **ESPECIALLY** "Blue Riband" models for a decent price & in decent shape, BUY IT!!!!!! TRUST me, you will NOT be sorry!! ]]
Blue Room Briars is also a good place to look, one of the ones on http://www.estatepipescentral.com/ . Pipestud is another stellar source -- one of the best for quality, although his supply of estates goes up & down a lot. One of the very VERY best is pipestud. His rep is beyond stellar, & justly so; you can buy from him with 0 worries at all. You'll also find him on eBay. Speaking of fleaBay, there are more than a few that really stand out as 115% reliable & trustworthy. I hope I don't neglect anyone here by *not* mentioning them. Other good ones I've bought from (no particular order): colwright; twestpipe & kahuna100 (I've had several good experiences with all 3); fory63 (in Germany; I've bought 4-5 from him); & bima1960 & pipesonrattan (both in Italy; also multiple happy buys from both).

 

[bnichols23]

>>"Salmon & Gluckstein with a silver band that was hallmarked for 1890. T" -- Oh, my freaking God. Pappy, you're killin' me, I swear, you're killin' me....

 

[pappymac]

>>"Salmon & Gluckstein with a silver band that was hallmarked for 1890. T" -- Oh, my freaking God. Pappy, you're killin' me, I swear, you're killin' me....

bnichols23 - Don't have a heart attack. In two antique shops in Beaumont, Texas, I found these three (photo is after cleaning and polishing) The top is a Britannia, middle is a Big Ben Crosley and the bottom is the Salmon & Gluckstein. Total spent on all three pipes was $55.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You can find some gems at antique shops. Found this for $10.
Peddler's Mall Find

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Keep in mind, when someone purchases a pipe and loads tobacco in it, the second they apply fire and puff on it, it has become an estate pipe. You'll see pipes listed as estate range from unsmoked to looking like they've been smoked hundreds if not thousands of times.
You'll get as many different opinions on this subject as there are people posting. I've bought and sold quite a few pipes on eBay. The vast majority of those transactions have been good. The biggest mistake I made early on was buying pipes that I liked the look of while ignoring size and weight as well as other parameters important to me. I smoke a lot of flake tobacco. I clinch a lot. So I now look for smaller, lighter pipes with thicker walls. I like to keep my pipe really dry while smoking it so I'll often run a pipe cleaner through while smoking. So I've bought mostly straight up to a 1/4 bend only. Seeing some basic must parameters has really improved my hit rate.
If you're just starting out, I personally prefer and recommend Italian pipes. If you look and are patient, you can get some great buys on Savinelli, Ascorti, Caminetto, Radice and a number of other high quality Italian carvers. I have 9 Moretti pipes I bought new on eBay. Marco sells mostly on eBay which cuts out the middleman and allows for great value IMHO.
I also save certain sellers on eBay and watch them. Pipestud is a member here and a premier pipe seller on eBay. There are several others. I've had excellent luck with briarblues and pipes2smoke. Mike and Maxim are great people. Don't hesitate to post a pipe here and ask opinions if you're unsure. Good luck.