First Ashton (FINALLY!), Estate Score

[mustanggt]

Welcome to the club but you won't be stopping with just that one. :wink:

 

[ssjones]

Congratulations. I like that white stem!
Those Bakelite stems caught my attention, but the Craig colored stems are a far more reasonably priced alternative and as MLC pointed out, will probably be more durable over time.
Since we're showing Ashtons, here is my small group. The XX size has become my favorite. These are all Taylor pipes.
Sovereign XX 2009 (last year of Taylor production, most likely made by Jimmy Craig)


Old Church XX 1998


Pebble Grain XX 1998 (my first Ashton)


Pebble Grain XXX 1999


Pebble Grain XXX 1998

 

[tbradsim1]

My Taylor Era Canadian.

 

[misterlowercase]

Had to make a double-take on that one Bradley,

yowza.
What a blast.

What a blast.
Those sunburst curtains always crank my motor!

vroom vroom


Looks like a superfine pipe!
Looks like a massive bowl too,

izzit a big boy?
Thanks for sharing!

::

 

[tbradsim1]

I just had to show you the front of that Big Boy.

 

[misterlowercase]

HOLY SHIT.

8O
I had to log back on and comment on seeing that picture!
At first I though it was a Cooke!
OMG
That Ashton has an epic blast of the highest order!
I
AM
JAWDROPT.
:!:
Is that the Ashton?!?!?
Yowza.
I'm like a deer transfixed by headlights lookin' at that thing!

8O

 

[tbradsim1]

Yes it's the same pipe, like you it looks like a Cooke , it's amazing the blast and for under 300$,

 

[misterlowercase]

My God,

it's damn near perfect!
What a great example of what an Ashton pipe can be!
You win.

:D

 

[toby67]

Some beautiful pipes pictured here. I love the shank on your new acquisition there layinpipes the way it has that slightly raised ring like a worm . Pity you cannot see the swirling in the stem, I can only imagine and figure would be a much sweeter contrast than plain white. I'm Trying again to add a Wathen to my collection, will to a bit higher this time and maybe finally add one to my collection.
Being in Australia I can't bid on PipeStud's pipes, he said if I had an address in America that would forward the package onto me it would be better as this is the way a lot of his international buyers operate, I think he called it a Postal House or something like that. Anyone know what that is or know a way I can get around this.

 

[weezell]

Someday :mrgreen: ...

 

[pitchfork]

Since we're all sharing, this is my one Ashton, an XX. The perfect size for strong flakes.

 

[tarheel1]

Congrats. I have a besooke on order. Will probably be feb before Jimmy Craige starts on it.

 

[misterlowercase]

Tarheel,

the idea of a bespoke Ashton is very appealing to me,

I did not realize that he accepted commissions.
How does one go about this process,

and do you have current contact info?
Thanks.

 

[shaintiques]

Lots of beauties. Here is mine. It was a gift from Fred aka Sparrowhawk. I would buy another in a heart beat. This is a flake smoking machine.

 

[misterlowercase]

Since this has become a sort of catch-all,

might as well as this here.
Most of you have probably seen it,

but I find myself going back to it again and again.

http://www.rdfield.com/Ashton/the_ashton_collection.htm

​

You learn stuff like,

"The year 1995 was a telling one in terms of nomenclature. Midway through that year the Ashton stamp (in script) was lost along with some of the finish stamps. Because of this many of the pipes had Ashton stamped in block letters instead of script, and in addition there was no finish (Oldchurch, Pebblegrain, etc.) stamped on many of the pipes. 1995 was also the year over half of the pipes produced had no date stamp."

or,

"The ASHTON PebbleShell pipe undergoes unique processing for which William Ashton-Taylor received a British patent- the first British pipe maker in ages to do so. Many times a block of briar proves too dense to sandblast well. Bill has two choices here- to send the more shallow sandblasts to Europe where they are generally more highly prized than the craggy blasts so beloved by American pipe smokers, or to put in extra effort in making this dense block into a light and craggy looking pipe. Bill experimented for years before coming up with just the right process, which involves steam, rustication, oil, and sandblasting. Each PebbleShell pipe has the patent number stamped on the bottom of the shank."

And see stuff like this:

SXX may be one of the rarest stamps ever, and if I had oppo to buy one I'd go the distance for it.
:
I also like to go looking there when I'm in the throes of deciding if I should get a certain Ashton, I like to weigh it against those in the gallery, and it's helped convince me to let "lesser examples" go and not get carried away with emotion. To wait for one that I think is better, there's plenty of 'em out there, and patience like Layinpipe had during the search usually does pay off in the end.

::

 

[boilermakerandy]

Beautiful. I love the white stem.

 

[ssjones]

I didn't know about the SXX stamp!

I do run across some pipes with no date stamps - can they be certainly a '95? Seems like a pretty good bet.

How does one lose stamps??? (perhaps those Pint lunches?)

 

[tarheel1]

Mr Taylor was not the most organized gentleman out there. He lost the piece of paper with the brindle stain recipe for 5 years, so there were no Ashton Brindle pipes for that long. Here is the Ashton story if you have never read it.

Ashton Story

 

[yazamitaz]

Corey,
That looks way better than the pic I was looking at on my little iPhone screen. Congrats bro, that is a stunner

 

[layinpipe]

Wow, this thread really blew up in the past few days! I seriously like how it became a mini show-off-your-ashton's-here as well as a plethora of ashton knowledge thread. Thank you all for providing all the pics and very useful knowledge regarding the Ashton brand of pipes, i definitely learned a thing or two while sporting more than a couple Ashton boners, lol.
I have read the above posted Ashton story by R.D. Field and have many times drooled over all the beauties that are included within.
As a side note, i lost out by 1 bid on another gorgeous Ashton from the same seller last night. I used esnipe to boot, but the sniper was out-sniped by some asshole out there (unless said asshole was a member on here, then congrats i am happy for you). Someone still got a deal at a little over $150 ($150 was my high bid). Oh well, as i said before, there will ALWAYS be another!
Check out the blast on this bad boy!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ashton-Estate-Pipe-/191446080435?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=X4%252B5z37rJ2F90VskOpoHIkeAjBg%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc