Marking Name on Pipe?

[neworleansgentleman]

Hi again everyone! I tried looking for a thread related to this before posting, but alas, no luck finding one.
Long story short, a very nice (and very expensive) unsmoked Davidoff has come into my hands, as well as a Ser Jacopo Picta Van Gogh (also worth some $ apparently).
I now have about a dozen pipes in my collection, and I had a near heart attack the other day when I left one in a common area on campus. Luckily, no one snatched it (my favorite Peterson!) and nothing much happened. I was struck with the realization that if someone had taken it, even with the intention of returning it to me, they would have had no name to associate with it.
However, the question I have is: What are your ideas for marking your name on a pipe without permanently altering it and limiting its value as an estate pipe later on?

I'm thinking some kind of engraved metal strip attached to the stem with some mild adhesive...other thoughts?

 

[teufelhund]

Agreed... Thieves certainly do not care. I once had my car window busted out for three some odd dollars of change in a cupholder and the door was even unlocked. If you want to protect your property start playing the odds and hoping for the best.

 

[sparkyspipes]

I think its a good idea, for the favored pipes or the ones you know you will hold onto. If nothing else I think its a very neat thing for the generations after us who will get a inheritance pipes to see who the pipes came from.

 

[kashmir]

On a few artisan commissioned pipes, I've had the artisan stamp my initials on the undershank. That way I can never sell them. It's a way of branding certain pipes in my collection that I will never sell. Forcing me to bond intimately with particular pipes. After I'm gone, if they circulate, it'll be my way of leaving my mark. I was here. This was my pipe. I once knew a man that stamped his social security number on all 300+ pipes in his collection. He passed on a while ago in the 90s, and I don't know what became of his pipes. I keep looking for them on eBay. At least subconsciously.

 

[martiniman]

Catch 22.
If it is marked so well to protect it (cannot be removed) it will hurt the resale.
Just keep better track of your pipes and keep the resale up.
P.S. Welcome aboard, sounds like you have a good collection started.

 

[teufelhund]

They used to have pipes that had a leather covering; maybe you could make a custom cover with your name on it. If it fit securely enough they might just think it's part of it, but then you don't get to look at the pretty grain. Some pipes are serialized so you could keep records when it came to recovery of missing property but that doesn't help with it being stolen/lost in the first place. Totally out there ideas include the pipe lock and pipe lojack. :wink:

 

[zekest]

Leather covering... Put a Johnny Hat on that pipe!

 

[mso489]

Marking the pipe isn't going to help with theft, in most cases. Thieves and fences regularly

file off or modify serial numbers on all kinds of stolen items from firearms to automobiles.

Marking a pipe might get it returned to you by the well-intended, however. I had a cat that

was ill and aging who'd wander off, and several people were kind about contacting me and

feeding and sitting with him in the meantime, with my phone number on his tagged collar.

I think travel and work pipes are best nice quality machine-made, cobs, or mid-levels you

risk in a calculated way. You can mark these, permanently or temporarily as you like, with

the understanding that you don't expect any money or trade-in value on them. There are

members who take quality pipes traveling; it's just their gamble, and fair enough. If I spent

a lot of time away from home, I might do this also. A few mid-level Petersons.

 

[ciderguy]

As others have stated if someone with bad intentions takes it, you are probably never going to get it back. So lets assume that an honest person finds it and wants to return it to you. You could probably have a replacement stem made, and engrave some form of contact information on the replacement stem. This means that an honest person could return it. Additionally, it means the original stem won't be used and if you ever want to sell the pipe you'll have the original stem to sell it with.

 

[sergemoat]

1. Get a pipe case

2. Include business card/contact info
If you forget your pipe you'll probably forget the case too.