Hi Allan,
I stumbled across this thread today while researching a different pipe shape for a customer. I actually remember making that pipe! It was the 17th pipe I ever made. The pipe was not my design, but was commissioned by an older pipe maker and pipe shop owner named Charlie DiFranco, who's shop was near my apartment in New Jersey. He had an order for a long-time customer named Mark, but had stopped making pipes himself so he hired me to do it for him. Charlie paid me $180, I believe, for that pipe when I made it for him a decade ago. I believe that the stem was the fifth or sixth handmade stem I had ever attempted.
It's really cool that you got to try out an early piece like that! Something all pipe makers and collectors must be aware of as they buy estate pieces is that artisanal work isn't static. My work, like that of most others had a starting point, in terms of quality, attention to detail, etc. The current standards and results are different than they were then (I HOPE, at least!
) and they will change in the future, as with any artisan in any craft.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think that my work has gotten *a little* better in the ten years and nearly nine hundred pipes that separate today from the pipe you owned. Estate buyers would be encouraged to be aware of how early/late a piece is from a pipe maker. Later pieces will naturally be more refined and 'better' than earlier ones, right? This is true whether you are buying an early Nanna or Lars Ivarsson (I've seen Nanna's first pipe), Rad Davis, Michael Lindner, or one of mine.
Also, a pipe maker has no control over what is done to a pipe after it leaves the shop. Someone may file, sand, or buff the stem beyond recognition. People can really do things to our pipes that make us double over in pain. "I spent so much time on that, and you ruined it!" C'est la vie!
Cheers and happy smoking!
Best,
Jeff
FWIW, here's a Rhodesian that I made last year for comparison: Rhodesian
I stumbled across this thread today while researching a different pipe shape for a customer. I actually remember making that pipe! It was the 17th pipe I ever made. The pipe was not my design, but was commissioned by an older pipe maker and pipe shop owner named Charlie DiFranco, who's shop was near my apartment in New Jersey. He had an order for a long-time customer named Mark, but had stopped making pipes himself so he hired me to do it for him. Charlie paid me $180, I believe, for that pipe when I made it for him a decade ago. I believe that the stem was the fifth or sixth handmade stem I had ever attempted.
It's really cool that you got to try out an early piece like that! Something all pipe makers and collectors must be aware of as they buy estate pieces is that artisanal work isn't static. My work, like that of most others had a starting point, in terms of quality, attention to detail, etc. The current standards and results are different than they were then (I HOPE, at least!
) and they will change in the future, as with any artisan in any craft. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think that my work has gotten *a little* better in the ten years and nearly nine hundred pipes that separate today from the pipe you owned. Estate buyers would be encouraged to be aware of how early/late a piece is from a pipe maker. Later pieces will naturally be more refined and 'better' than earlier ones, right? This is true whether you are buying an early Nanna or Lars Ivarsson (I've seen Nanna's first pipe), Rad Davis, Michael Lindner, or one of mine.
Also, a pipe maker has no control over what is done to a pipe after it leaves the shop. Someone may file, sand, or buff the stem beyond recognition. People can really do things to our pipes that make us double over in pain. "I spent so much time on that, and you ruined it!"
C'est la vie!Cheers and happy smoking!
Best,
Jeff
FWIW, here's a Rhodesian that I made last year for comparison: Rhodesian
