Help Me Understand Pipe Prices

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techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
So it has been just a few weeks and I've acquired four pipes. I look at a lot of them, just trying to learn the different styles and, of course, the wide range of prices. Not taking into account the expensive artisan pipes, where I can understand the higher prices (for some), what really differentiates between, say, a $70 Savinelli and a $200 Savinelli? Is there something in the workmanship that justifies paying more for a pipe other than aesthetics?

Will it for some mechanical reason provide a better smoking experience?
PS: I am only using Savinelli as a reference, not because I am interested in one.

 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
Mostly I've come to understand that a lot of the price depends on the grade of the pipe. What type of grain is it, just what kind of finish can you get out of it, that sort of thing. I'm sort of oversimplifying it, but that's one of the reasons behind it. More often than not, you can expect to pay higher prices for higher grades. Then, if you look at prices between brands, they will typically run you differently when looking at say a Savinelli versus a Castello, even if carved identically. Maybe even the same grading would be more for one than the other. Also, brand names matter a lot. Personally, I haven't ever smoked a pipe that cost more than $140, but some guys will tell you a $1,000 pipe doesn't smoke better than a $100, and some will tell you they do. Just my experience. If your overall technique is poor, then you'll have just as equally bad a smoke in that $1,000 pipe as you will in the $100 pipe.

 

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,810
3,566
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
To quickly oversimplify, the higher price is for better grain, no or few fills, really nice briar. Now, the thing is, as a pipe goes up in price, the briar isn't enough to justify it. So now you get added care, better drilling, perhaps a more comfortable stem with a smaller more stylized button that feels better in the mouth. It is both form and function, and you have to decide what price point pipe is right for you by, well, trying them all out. I personally love new Kaywoodie pipes, which have a molded stem, for an everyday pipe. But I like the thinner button on an artisan pipe when I really want to sit back and relax and forget that I am clenching a pipe at all. And I don't like acrylic stems all that much, even though they can sometimes fetch a higher price for the color variations, but I clench and prefer vulcanite or ebonite. It's really subjective based on what matters to you. New Kaywoodie pipes run under $50 and are great, but my artisan pipes range from $100 to $300 mostly. I reach for a Kaywoodie more and more, though. Cobs are super cheap if you find you love them, but I don't. So I spend a little more.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,831
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
If your overall technique is poor, then you'll have just as equally bad a smoke in that $1,000 pipe as you will in the $100 pipe.
^^This. It's 25% equipment and 75% technique.
We've have a number of threads around the question of price. Think of it this way. There has be be a profit in a sold pipe. So the cost involved in making it is only a fraction of the overall price. With a $75 pipe, maybe there's $35 in manufacturing costs, or maybe less depending on how many mark ups are involved between fabrication and retail sale. With the lower end you get molded stems with little to no handwork and machine made bowls with little to no handwork. The pipe might smoke well, or be a stinker, but quality control is pretty marginal since there's not enough money in it to pay for that.
As you go up in price you get better quality materials, though the pipe will still be largely machine made. BTW, there's nothing wrong with a machine made pipe. Get up toward $200 and there's room for a bit of handwork, a bit more fit and finish. Go up to $300 and you get a hand cut stem, which can be more comfortable in one's maw. Stems can involve much more work than turning a bowl. You may also get a better grade piece of wood. At $400 you would get a pipe made from quality materials with handwork to refine the fit and finish and a comfortable hand made stem.
But if you don't know how to properly smoke a pipe, the improvements don't matter, and you won't be able to experience, much less appreciate differences in quality.

 

npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
Techie, the Pipe "market" is a strange beast. And I mean that from an academic standpoint. There are many (many) variables. This is one of the most fascinating markets for me to study and follow. It is very similar to the fashion or watch industry, many similarities.
- Quality of the briar

- Name recognition

- Factory vs Artisan

- Reason for purchase (practical vs investment vs sentiment)

- Estate vs New

- School of carver (Danish vs Italian vs French vs English vs American)

- Pedigree (Famous carver, mentor, where trained)

- Briar (new, aged, location, etc)

- Finish (smooth, high grade, rusticated vs sandblast)

- Carver (established name and sought after vs new and unknown)

- Utility (simple smoker or a a $10,000 investment)

- Sentiment (Name brand and over priced but still purchased vs other)

- Asian and Russian market vs U.s. maarket vs other countries

- Practicality vs emotion

- Marketing variables

- Collection interests (Think Castello or Dunhill vs specific artisans)

- PAD (that just gotta grow my collection thinking)

- Alcohol (many people are amazingly willing to spend more $ under the influence)

- Smokeability (engineering, but that term is controversial)

- The pipe makes you look good and feel good

- ____Your Thoughts Here ______

 

techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
It is very similar to the fashion or watch industry, many similarities.
With that one line I now better understand. I was in the fashion industry for a number of years as a photographer. Makes sense. Objects of desire have numerous variables.
Alcohol (many people are amazingly willing to spend more $ under the influence)
Oh yes. This I can also relate to. My pipe/tobacco collecting is now competing with my whisky collecting, and the whisky collecting is feeding into the other. Not that I mind.

 
May 9, 2018
1,687
86
Raleigh, NC
Oooooh, you collect whiskey as well as pipes/tobaccos? I'm sure we'd get along great! I don't "collect" whiskey, per se, as when I find a good one it gets gone pretty quickly. Jefferson's Reserve Pritchard Hill didn't last very long at all, for instance.

 

techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
There are three Jefferson's in my top five favorite bourbons, Pritchard Hill being one of them. The other two are Grand Selection Chateau Pichon Baron Cask, and Grand Selection Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes Cask. The Pritchard went pretty fast, but the Grand Selections I pour much less. I want to hang onto them as long as possible.
I'm going to grab another bottle of the Pritchard while it's still available here in western PA. Only a few bottles left!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I think posts have covered the elemental aspects of pipe pricing. Doubling back a little, I would just point out that pipes at both ends of the price spectrum can provide an excellent experience. At the high end, you pay for some real artistry, some superb crafting, sometimes elevated branding, and history and legacy, and sometimes known and respected rarity. It requires some learning to do well in that market, but it can be rewarding beyond just having pipes to smoke. On the other end, there are some fine factory pipes, and even outstanding pipes by rising artisans, and dependable moderately priced brands that can deliver exceptional smoking experiences. In between those two ends, there is a real playground of options at every price level. Given all that, you can have expensive pipes that never quite live up to their billing, and inexpensive ones that can astonish you. At any price level, learning about pipes rewards the time spent and enables you to do better whether you have a nice amount or a budgeted amount to spend.

 

mikethompson

Lifer
Jun 26, 2016
11,287
23,315
Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Pretty much covered in the above posts, but I would like to add that most of that goes for almost anything not just pipes.
A $5000 car will transport you just as well as a $50000 car, but its not just about that. Quality of materials, craftsmanship, and the name all come into play. I'd argue that emotion plays a large part as well.

 

techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
I'd argue that emotion plays a large part as well.
For me as a beginner, I would say my emotional response to the aesthetics was the primary factor in the four pipes I've purchased thus far. Price being second. I assumed that all of them would allow me to smoke the tobaccos I was acquiring just fine, not really thinking too much about them failing me in that regard. The first two are 9mm filtered (which didn't matter too much to me whether they were filtered or not), but the third purchase was definitely because it was a non-filtered, as I wanted to compare to the filtered experience.
When I browse through pipes online, I only click to view pipes that immediately grab my attention. Perhaps with experience I will look for pipes based on some functional need, but I doubt the aesthetic attraction will ever take second place. Maybe it's the artist in me.

 

mikethompson

Lifer
Jun 26, 2016
11,287
23,315
Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Part of the 'ritual' for me is looking at the pipe while I smoke it, feeling the weight and shape in my hand, seeing the whisps of smoke, that sort of thing. Aesthetics are huge. I won't smoke an ugly pipe.
The first two are 9mm filtered (which didn't matter too much to me whether they were filtered or not), but the third purchase was definitely because it was a non-filtered, as I wanted to compare to the filtered experience.
I have a few 9mm filter pipes and they smoke just fine without a filter in there. I have a nice Brigham as well that has a wood filter and it smokes great either way.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,205
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I left out some of the other obvious factors for pipe prices. Whether retailed or sold by a carver, profit is the goal, ergo all the costs of manufacturing, shipping, wholesaling, retailing, need to be recovered by the various levels involved in making and selling. Each of those levels have taxes, wages, utilities, rent and many other costs. Even a "boutique" carver, operating out of the house and simply looking to augment other income must cover costs or go broke.
A $200.00 pipe, retail, probably has a couple bucks worth of briar and a couple hours of cheap labor in the total. The remainder is the costs and profits for retailer, shipping, salaries, etc. for the manufacturer, more if there is a middleman (rep or wholesaler costs? import/export costs, there are a myriad of expenses which all must be factored into the retail price. The expense of the briar and then the making of the pipe is probably a minimal percentage of the retail price. Add a bit of silver or gold to the pipe and now you have an expensive pipe.
I'd love to see what a Dunhill cost to make in 30's. Or a Peterson in this day and age. Meerschaum is cheap to acquire in bulk and the carvers are generally paid a pittance in comparison to the guy who puts the right front door handle on Ford F-150.

 

tavol

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 23, 2018
175
172
If your overall technique is poor, then you'll have just as equally bad a smoke in that $1,000 pipe as you will in the $100 pipe.
The most expensive pipe I've smoked is $400 not a $1000 but I'm not sure I quite agree. Cheap corn cobs and falcons are very forgiving of poor technique and are somewhat easier to smoke than a briar pipe IMO

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,831
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
The most expensive pipe I've smoked is $400 not a $1000 but I'm not sure I quite agree. Cheap corn cobs and falcons are very forgiving of poor technique and are somewhat easier to smoke than a briar pipe IMO
Maybe, but my experience is that it's more about the tobacco than the pipe. Some blends are more forgiving of poor technique than others. If the prep on the tobacco isn't optimal, as in moisture level, as well as the pack, the rest doesn't matter, cob, metal, briar, or meer.

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
Pipe aesthetics was my prime deciding factor when I started out, but after buying that Brigham volcano with a huge chamber I learned to let aesthetics take a back seat behind functionality. Why buy a pipe with a huge chamber that will hardly be smoked due to the particular situations in my life that leave me no choice but to have short smoking sessions?
Now, the first thing I look for in a pipe is that its bowl be no deeper than 35 mm. Then I look at shape and the rest.
Don't get me wrong: aesthetics still play a large factor—if I don't like the pipe I won't buy it—, as exemplified by my grabbing that Brigham volcano and clenching it whenever I need to take a photograph of myself.

 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,575
66
Sarasota, FL
Not much to add to some already excellent posts. If you're buying Savinelli, you should be getting a decent smoking pipe in general. Get a few and learn to smoke properly before going hog wild with pipe purchases. Discover the tobaccos you like and refine your technique.
IMHO, I think people should go for less quantity and more quality. Most have a certain amount they can afford to spend TOTAL. If that's a $1,000, I'd recommend you buy 4 or 5 at $200 to $250 instead of 10 @ $100.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Anyone who thinks they are having a diminished experience because they are smoking mostly cobs and Dr. Grabow pipes probably isn't. If you have developed technique and know your preferences and your blends, you're getting the experience firsthand. A magnificent expensive pipe is a beauty to behold and often to smoke, but not a requirement, by my lights.

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
Sorry MSO, but I disagree to the extent that the probability of getting a better smoke rises tremendously when choosing a carefully hand made pipe featuring the best possible briar from a talented individual pipe maker who takes many hours of painstaking care with the briar right up through the comfortable handmade stem than one made with inexpensive and not as carefully cured briar that is tossed through a machine and fitted with a pre-formed stem. Can you luck into a machine made $30 Dr. Grabow smoking as well as a $300 handmade by a well respected pipe maker? Of course. Bud, the odds are not with you, my friend.

 
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