Poor eyesight could be a likely culprit...
How Does This Happen?
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I don't think I could do that with my (pipe) zippo if I tried...Happens all the time. That's minor compared to some I've seen. my theory is, it's Zippoed. Laying the lighter on the top of the pipe while lighting. Some just consider them smoking instruments and they will get burned. I have to admit, i have a couple that would make that piece look pristine
Don't have a standard to know if it would do it.
Rim charing makes no difference in smoking quality. Only difference it makes is if you decide to sell
I took the op to mean taking care of the nice things you do have while still using them. I think you acted perfectly with that Hemi Belvedere. But I bet your brother drives and maintains it, doesn't actively seek to destroy it. It is like kids with toys. The ones who never open them and keep them on shelves, the ones who play with them but take care not to trash them or abuse them, and the kid out in the backyard blowing their toys up with M-80s and a pellet gun.100% agree.
I'd love to have that 69 GTO Judge in Warwick Blue!
I'd sell it immediately and spend that quarter of a million dollars on building driver cars for the rest of my life. Yes, one sold for over $300 000 also. If driven, it would be around $100,000 But I sure wouldn't drive it.
Same goes for pipes.
A few years ago a Bo Nordh pipe sold at auction for $30,000.
Again, I would love you have that pipe!.......to sell.....so I could buy a smoker pipe and build a driver car.
I own zero things I can't use.
But, I do understand that some things maybe should be kept perfect for historical value.
Years ago my brother and I found a 1966 Plymouth Belvedere with matching 426 Hemi street engine. It had been in a dirt floor barn sinse 1971. It had 27,000 original miles.
We put about $12,000 into it to get it back to factory. Everything was good, except the normal parts that corrode or dry rot with age.
Long story short. We were offered $75,000 for the car from a fellow car guy. We turned him down. I kept it here in WNY for a few years. Once the Northern climate took hold, I sent it to Albuquerque with my brother. He's been weekend driving it for a few years now and doing some car shows. It's now worth about $30,000. That's about the price of an original engine of that year. If it was still in 27,000 mile condition....it may be over $100,000.
Sometimes it doesn't pay to have nice things.
He had mentioned the guys who keep their cars in temp controlled buildings and trailer them to shows.
It gets so much more intense.
These guys disconnect the odometer so the 20 feet the car is pushed onto the trailer doesn't add miles. They spend $3000 to have the cars detailed with dry ice and dust repellent. They cover their cars with UV covers only uncovering them for limited viewing. They wear gloves when touching the car. And then they get real anal about it.
The same with the pipe guys who only use gloves to touch their high end, unsmoked pipes. Keep them UV free and take them out 3x a year at a show.
My point was that I believe this is OK for extreme examples. Like the 69 Warwick GTO and the unsmoked Bo Nordh pipes. It's not MY thing, but I think it's good that some people are doing it. Like I'm glad there are brain surgeons. It's not my thing but I'm happy they exist.
Jay Leno is one of those car guys. He has dozens of high end cars that he drives very occasionally and let's people touch and sit in them.
Then he has a few that only get the "glove" treatment. The few that are one of a kind and absolutely irreplaceable. He owns the #1 Vin number Boss 429 Mustang from 1969. It's value is beyond guessing at this point. Billionaire collectors would sell their children to buy it.
I'm not talking about the OP, but there are a lot of people who believe owning anything and not using it regularly is absurd and a waste. They say these things were made to be used and not using them is an insult to the creators.
And, like I said, I agree to a point.
The guys "white gloving" average items seems a bit odd, but for the ultra rare few items, I believe keeping them "as new" helps keep these things alive for future generations.
As for the Belvedere, we didn't even consider not driving it. Sure, the road wear and miles have devalued it by half or more, but we have been able to enjoy the thing we admire. We have built cool cars for decades. Then this car dropped in our lap. We got lucky enough to find OUR unicorn and decided to build memories instead of a museum piece.
To clarify the angst that led to my post, my issue isn't in using a nice pipe and it showing normal wear and tear, it's in abusing the pipe for no good reason. Normal wear and tear is teeth chatter on a stem and a darkened rim. Abuse is rim/chamber charring (actually burning briar, not just seasoning it).
If you are fortunate enough, and have the good taste, to afford a 5c Cavicchi, one would think you would be conscientious enough to not use a torch lighter to light a bowl.
I am also of the opinion we just rent nice things while we are alive, and someone else will enjoy those nice things once we pass. To not be a good steward of those things while we possess them, is just wasteful and a detriment those that come after.
If you are fortunate enough, and have the good taste, to afford a 5c Cavicchi, one would think you would be conscientious enough to not use a torch lighter to light a bowl.
I am also of the opinion we just rent nice things while we are alive, and someone else will enjoy those nice things once we pass. To not be a good steward of those things while we possess them, is just wasteful and a detriment those that come after.