People have paid me much more for a piece of new canvas with some paint smeared on it.
How can a pipe sell for $5,610?
- Thread starter quantumboy
- Start date
You could get 3 Joura King grades.
Karl Heinz Joura is arguably the finest pipe maker ever. His early work especially. Here is one for a mere $12,500...and it will sell.
Joura King #1149504. New Price — Pulvers' Prior Briar
Long periods go by when the wood simply does not exist to produce a King grade. The bonus on this piece is the shape and style, making it a great pipe to hold and smoke. I would guess most King's get put away as collectors' pieces. Since this pipe was produced, Karl Heinz Joura has started
www.pulverspriorbriar.com
About 15 years ago I had one. I was into high grade pipes. I kept it about 5 years, and smoked it once. I made $1000 profit on it. Now this is a great use of grain, and proper contrast.
I took another look at the dingus. It's beautifully wrought in one of the Danish influenced Japanese shapes and is a testament to the sheer quality of execution that Japanese carvers can achieve.
That said, it's still just a pipe, with no pretense of being more significant than a pipe. It is a work of craftsmanship, not a work of art, highest end artisanry, not artistry.
It's the sum of its parts.
One hell of a sum...
That said, it's still just a pipe, with no pretense of being more significant than a pipe. It is a work of craftsmanship, not a work of art, highest end artisanry, not artistry.
It's the sum of its parts.
One hell of a sum...
That's a beauty!You could get 3 Joura King grades.
Karl Heinz Joura is arguably the finest pipe maker ever. His early work especially. Here is one for a mere $12,500...and it will sell.
But estate Jouras can be had in the $2000 range all day. And they will keep their value.Joura King #1149504. New Price — Pulvers' Prior Briar
Long periods go by when the wood simply does not exist to produce a King grade. The bonus on this piece is the shape and style, making it a great pipe to hold and smoke. I would guess most King's get put away as collectors' pieces. Since this pipe was produced, Karl Heinz Joura has started
About 15 years ago I had one. I was into high grade pipes. I kept it about 5 years, and smoked it once. I made $1000 profit on it. Now this is a great use of grain, and proper contrast.
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Personally, I think the pipe is beautiful and if I had the budget for it I would buy it.
Different strokes !
Some years ago I got a bit of unexpected cash.
I debated going on a trip, buying a Sixten Ivarsson or a bottle of wine.
I ended up getting the bottle of wine.
People spend way more on guitars, fishing gear, motorbikes, watches, what have you.....
Hell a friend spent over $10,000 on a pushbike !
So long as the kids are fed and clothed and don't go cold.
Whatever floats your boat !
Some years ago I got a bit of unexpected cash.
I debated going on a trip, buying a Sixten Ivarsson or a bottle of wine.
I ended up getting the bottle of wine.
People spend way more on guitars, fishing gear, motorbikes, watches, what have you.....
Hell a friend spent over $10,000 on a pushbike !
So long as the kids are fed and clothed and don't go cold.
Whatever floats your boat !
Why don't Sotheby's and Christie's auction pipes?
Because their value is too low. Selling pipes would cost more than the time required to "process" them.
Shiny rocks? check
Shiny metal hammered and/or melted into fanciful shapes? check
Dried color-y stuff smeared on flat pieces of fabric? check
(some) Old Cars? check
(some) Stacked sheets of paper glued together on one side? check
Crystal Skulls from Deep Caves Tracked Down by Guys in Fedora Hats? check
Pipes? Even the spendiest ones? nope
Because their value is too low. Selling pipes would cost more than the time required to "process" them.
Shiny rocks? check
Shiny metal hammered and/or melted into fanciful shapes? check
Dried color-y stuff smeared on flat pieces of fabric? check
(some) Old Cars? check
(some) Stacked sheets of paper glued together on one side? check
Crystal Skulls from Deep Caves Tracked Down by Guys in Fedora Hats? check
Pipes? Even the spendiest ones? nope
I would want a pipe I could smoke thousands of times, would not fear of dropping, and would enjoy. That said, yes quite the work of art. 
I think that kind of pricing for a pipe is rediculous as well. However, I believe that if a person wants to spend his hard earned money on something that brings him pleasure is his own business. He is the one that has to be satisfied with his purchase, not me.
Other than a well chosen block, the more I look at the original pipe being discussed I keep getting the impression of a novice or an apprentice carving with a preformed stem.
There are a lot of pipes in this price range.
None of them will be in my collection
Ive spend modestly large amounts on a few pipes and I dont regret it. They were still WAY under a grand.
They do not smoke better than my other pipes but I continue to enjoy them.
To some people 5k is pocket change.
You have to ask if you are bothered by the cost of the pipe or the vast disparity of wealth between normal folk and the uber wealthy. I personally have more trouble with that.
Regardless, its just a pipe and its pretty (IMHO). There are a lot of less attractive pipes that sell for more just becuase a name is attached.
For me, Ive pulled back on how much I will spend on a single pipe. The two that cost the most were also, to me, a couple of the prettiest pipes Ive seen and when I first saw them I had no intention of buying them. Down the road they were still for sale and I bought them.
Other than a small handfull of pipes most of mine are 200 or less estates. Unless Im just blows away by something I will likely try to stay in that range (give or take a bit). Its not a matter of not being able to afford more, its just that there are so many choices in that range
As for the original posting...if that pipe landed in my mailbox it would be promptly loaded with whatever sounded good to smoke that day. It would not sit lonely and unsmoked.
None of them will be in my collection
Ive spend modestly large amounts on a few pipes and I dont regret it. They were still WAY under a grand.
They do not smoke better than my other pipes but I continue to enjoy them.
To some people 5k is pocket change.
You have to ask if you are bothered by the cost of the pipe or the vast disparity of wealth between normal folk and the uber wealthy. I personally have more trouble with that.
Regardless, its just a pipe and its pretty (IMHO). There are a lot of less attractive pipes that sell for more just becuase a name is attached.
For me, Ive pulled back on how much I will spend on a single pipe. The two that cost the most were also, to me, a couple of the prettiest pipes Ive seen and when I first saw them I had no intention of buying them. Down the road they were still for sale and I bought them.
Other than a small handfull of pipes most of mine are 200 or less estates. Unless Im just blows away by something I will likely try to stay in that range (give or take a bit). Its not a matter of not being able to afford more, its just that there are so many choices in that range
As for the original posting...if that pipe landed in my mailbox it would be promptly loaded with whatever sounded good to smoke that day. It would not sit lonely and unsmoked.
I agree.
There are a LOT of better looking pipes in the $300-$600 range.
I cannot get over the poor stain job. Zero contrast on ok grain...what a waste. Here is a $10 Darnley with better contrast.
I go to a lot of car auctions.
Ive seen guys drop $120, 000 on a car that isn't fast, has horrible brakes, dry rotted tires and vacuum operated headlights!
The funny thing is that most of the guys I see buying 60 year old cars for $60,000, $15,000 Les Paul's, and $70 000 Harleys are NOT the uber wealthy. They are passionate collectors who go without in other areas to feed their passion.
Of course there are a LOT of very rich people buying these items too, but in my experience it's for investment and resale value versus passion.
I was at Barrett Jackson a few years ago and witnessed Jay Leno buy a 1969 Mustang Boss 429 for $600,000. The car was bought new in 1970 by a blue collar auto mechanic. He stored it in his garage until 2019. It had under 800 miles on it.
Leno is one of the rare uber rich but passionate collectors.
Most >$500,000 muscle cars go straight to businessmen in China or Japan, never to be seen or drove again unfortunately.
How can a pipe sell for $5,610?
Checked the website, it hasn't yet. If someone has the disposable income and covets such a pipe, more power to them. A few folks here simply can't comprehend that others have funds to spend as they wish. Cars, homes/estates, personal jets and so forth inspire curiosity and... yes, in many cases, jealousy. If that weren't so sad it's be humorous. That $5600 will go far once spent.And, the moneys spent on such "trickle down", to use an old "thread bare" phrase, benefiting many over time.
I couldn't care less about the money.
These American muscle cars are disappearing into foreign vaults.
These buyers don't drive them, they don't show them....they just add them to their portfolio.
Luckily there is a growing number of American collectors who are willing to take less profit to keep these cars in the US and show them at car shows and museums.
Once they are gone, they are gone.
And once they are in a climate controlled vault in China or Saudi Arabia, they are just as gone as if they were scrapped.
It is believed that 3 of the original Shelby Cobras are in a vault in Saudi Arabia. But no one knows for sure, because they haven't been seen in over 40 years.
I understand your position but, to me they are simply automobiles, a way of getting from point A to point B and not symbolic of anything. Just another tool to be used and discarded as time and condition dictate. But, I understand, I think, that to some, inanimate objects represent some sort of national identity or self-perception. And, I can't disparage that I suppose. I don't understand it personally but, it's a mental state that many nurture. More power to you and them.
Lots of thumbs down here, but I still think it's beautiful. If you're ever made a pipe before, it's a huge risk as you cut into it, not knowing what the grain looks like on the inside. The fact that this one has such incredible symmetrical flame, and the bird's eye is so flawless, all tell a lot about the skill of the pipemaker and reading the briar. Like Michelangelo, who saw the angel in the marble and let him out. Is it worth the money? Of course not, but neither is a Bugatti. The Eye Of The Beholder, and all that, right?
A good friend from my mid-teen years went on to collect XK Jaguars.
In the early 1980's he bought a never-driven XK-140 for $30K. A car that had been professionally prepped for extended storage and maintained while stored.
It had been ordered by a doctor in Ft. Scott Kansas, but the guy had a stroke literally the morning the call came from the dealership that the car was ready for pick-up.
His friends knew not to just throw it in a barn, and his family never sold it because one of the dreams that kept him going---the stroke wasn't fatal, just disabling---was that he'd one day recover enough to drive it.
That day never came.
I wonder what something like that would be worth today...