(Hey man...hey man...you want some Esoterica...?)
.I was gonna say what’s different ? LolI think Esoterica is already like that
**Sniffs** Wait a minute...this is Captain Black Cherry!! (And then out come the handguns)If (and when...?) pipe tobacco ever became completely illegal in the same vein as other drugs like crystal meth or heroin - I would pay big money to watch that version of Breaking Bad
(Hey man...hey man...you want some Esoterica...?)
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I've found this to be true in my circle of friends and acquaintences. I don't know anyone locally who smokes a pipe any longer. As a kid, I recall seeing pipe smokers in public. My Dad's barber owned the shop and had 3 other chairs in his barber shop--I usually went there as a kid for my bi-monthly hair cut ("Jim," an MP in Europe during and after WWII) puffed his pipe non-stop in that large shop in Tulsa and he even used a straight razor--even on us kiddos (the hot soapy lather he put around my ears and the back of me neck felt great, and then came the sharp and quick strokes with his straight razor--wow, he had a steady hand--I still remember the sound of his razor on the strop hanging off the barber's chair!). A few years later, as an older teen I recall Carol "Smokey" Nightingale puffing his pipe while he tattooed his customers near the bus station in Wash., D.C.--now while he didn't have a razor in sight, he did wear a snub nosed .38 wheel gun on his right side outside his clothes to discourage trouble (as did his "cover" charge just to get inside his tattoo parlor). All sorts of folks smoked pipes and through the years they've completed that higher journey. Now I don't see anyone, ever. I asked a young friend of mine in his 30's if I could give him a pipe and a sample of tobacco--I had shared a cigar with him from time to time--he said, "No, not interested." I was sort of shocked--I really expected he would say, "sure." Our child, whose fairly accepting of others' habits and tastes puts up with my pipe smoking but just barely
! In my opinion, I think the general attitude I encounter is that smoking of any sort of tobacco is a dirty, sad and dumb habit--and it's from overkill by the anti-cigarette movement. I also think if more folks tried pipe smoking, many would be surprised to find how relaxing, pleasant and fulfilling the habit can be. Back to the thrust of the above quoted excerpt, nowadays I'd be surprised if most folks would even consider the small time and attention pipe smoking requires due to their preconceptions I choose to call, "prejudice." What say you? BTW--I'm heartened by my fellow forum members (brother and sisters) who also enjoy the many pleasures of pipe smoking. Thank you,
While true with commodities and many goods, some times increasing prices in some luxury lines increases demand.
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Absolutely true. Most basic market rules mostly applies to lower middle class. But, when you talk about what motivates luxury market, just throw all of that stuff away.
It's exclusivity. Theodore MacRothchild doesn't wish to be seen driving the same vehicle, wearing the same clothes or watch or living in the same neighborhood as Joe Sixpack. It's all about perception.
All eyewear is made on the same assembly line in the same factory. While the factory may change locations, they are always made exactly the same. I have met with the CEO in charge of the making of these frames, when I was designing eye frames in silver and gold. There is absolutely NO difference between a pair of Raybans and the $5 sunglasses from Walmart. The most expensive pair of frames at you optometrist is made exactly the same way and out of the same stuff as the least expensive pair. That is a range from $5000 down to $15 for the exact same designs and materials. What is the difference... the price. That's it. You can barely even see the logo on Raybans. Even the styles are super similar.
Not true. The frames may be the same or similar, the lenses are not (at least in most cases).
I didn't even say anything about the lenses. I was merely talking about the frames. You can put absolutely any lens into any frame. They come in the preset prescriptions, meaning, I would take the optometrist's RX and just find the RX on the box and then merely cut the lenses to fit into any frame. I have this whole set up in my studio. Lenscutters are quite simple but amazing machines. Not expensive at all. (side note) this is why I don't understand why pipemakers wouldn't use CAD technology to speed up production. Hell, they technology is the cheapest it has ever been. I never even have to actually do programming. The machine measures the inner curve of the frame as it cuts the edges of the lenses.
Nope, they are ABSOLUTELY the same. One company makes the frames for all brands. His name is still in my phone contact list. Rayban is a one room office that pays other people to make everything for them. All brands are the same. Nike, Converse, etc... they pay other people to make the stuff their brands go on, but when they all have shoes made... they all use one company for that also. Because that one company makes so many shoes for all of the companies, that it is just the cheapest way to go. There is nothing more special about a pair of Nikes than a pair of Buddys or Walmart shoes. It's just a brand, or whether you like the style... but if you do your shopping you'll find that all brands tend to have similar styles, because it is cheaper for that one company to make them that way.
Sorry Michael, that's not precisely true. But if want to believe it, that's fine. There may be a knockoff brand, somewhere, that is nearly identical to RayBan. But the really cheap sunglasses on the rack at a gas station are not exactly the same as RayBan and the other higher end sunglass companies.
