Help Evaluating Estate Pipe Condition

[BROBS]

Fair enough, personal experiences obviously varies but I'm a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" kind of guy and while I've bought many excellent estate pipes from SP.com in the past, my recent experiences with them over the last 18 months or so have really soured my opinion.

And since you've asked:

2 out of 5 pipes I bought over this period were what I would consider mislabeled - one had an obvious replacement stem and the other had a restored bowl but was labeled as (unsmoked). A more forgiving person probably could've chalked this up to an innocent oversight but given how substantially these things affect the value, I was personally not so trusting.

To be fair and balanced, when I did bring these points to their attention, they refunded the pipes immediately no questions asked.

Now the 3rd incident I'm less forgiving with: against my better judgement I impulse bought a birth-year Sherlock Peterson with a gold band, describe as being in mint, like new, unsmoked condition. When it arrived to me I noticed a huge 7mm crack on the gold band (after a little research a common sign of age with these pipes), I alerted SP.com with photos of the crack, and once again they accepted the return immediately.

However a week or so later, I saw the same pipe back up for sale on SP.com for the same price. The video demonstrating the pipe (which was the same one when I bought it the first time) I rewatched carefully and noticed the convenient finger placements to hides the crack on the band. The listing was gone after being up for another 2 or so weeks, I did not follow up, but some unlucky soul probably bought it...?

So out of the 5 estate pipes I've recently bought from SP.com (who charges a reasonable premium over eBay et al for their "reliability") I had to return 3. And just to be fair, the 2 I ended up keeping were fantastic pipes.

I don't know, maybe I'm just butt-hurt, but how would you categorize these experiences?



Completely agree on this sentiment, I was just joshing with you and Chasing. LOL.

They also answered on here once that they use denatured alcohol in their estate pipes. Definitely not recommended IMO

 

[condorlover1]

Pass. Banded meerschaum's maybe if they were done before 1920 or done by that fellow in the U.K who does brilliant work otherwise I agree with everyone else that even though its Dunhill there are plenty more fish in the lake.

 

[GCabot]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies!

To clarify, I believe the band is original, or at least looks to be that way to my eye:


The markings date it to around the 1930s, so it is quite old, though I have not had a clear picture of the patent marking to get an exact year. Given that the seller does not seem to be selling it at any kind of discount, I am probably leaning on passing and being patient at this point.

 

[lightmybriar]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies!

To clarify, I believe the band is original, or at least looks to be that way to my eye:
View attachment 30778

The markings date it to around the 1930s, so it is quite old, though I have not had a clear picture of the patent marking to get an exact year. Given that the seller does not seem to be selling it at any kind of discount, I am probably leaning on passing and being patient at this point.

A Dunhill band will be stamped with an “AD,” so that one would have been done by someone else.

 

[GCabot]

A Dunhill band will be stamped with an “AD,” so that one would have been done by someone else.

Ah, good to know!

What other generally reputable sources besides SP should I be looking at? I've been checking the following periodically already:

Blue Room Briars
Briar Blues
Mkelaw
Pulvers' Prior Briar
Vintagepipes on Etsy

 

[Chasing Embers]

Everybody’s got their opinion, but I take issue with your characterization of SP’s Estates.

My past five buys with them have been questionable. May have a new cleanup staff, but a Dunhill and three Bruce Weaver pieces I've recently bought from them look like they hadn't been touched. Heavy stem oxidation, no cake removal, and heavily gunked up airways. Fine now after cleaning, but something's going on as of late. Year's ago there wasn't a single issue.

 

[mso489]

The elevated prices on Dunhills even if you observe chasing's wise price limit, is not terribly cost effective. You can get new and estate pipes, factory and artisan, in lightly smoked or unsmoked states for less than a comparable White Spot/Dunhill. I'd remove that inflation from your pipe buying agenda. If you set your heart on a Dunhill, like chasing says, shop like crazy and be inhumanly patient.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The elevated prices on Dunhills even if you observe chasing's wise price limit, is not terribly cost effective. You can get new and estate pipes, factory and artisan, in lightly smoked or unsmoked states for less than a comparable White Spot/Dunhill. I'd remove that inflation from your pipe buying agenda. If you set your heart on a Dunhill, like chasing says, shop like crazy and be inhumanly patient.

Look for mislabeled listings as well.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

My past five buys with them have been questionable. May have a new cleanup staff, but a Dunhill and three Bruce Weaver pieces I've recently bought from them look like they hadn't been touched. Heavy stem oxidation, no cake removal, and heavily gunked up airways. Fine now after cleaning, but something's going on as of late. Year's ago there wasn't a single issue.

Consistent with my recent experience with SP.com as well.

Look for mislabeled listings as well.

Yeah, just casually browsing the other day I noticed mislabeled shapes/finishes. Something's afoot there for sure.