Nording Guinness World Record Pipe

[PLANofMAN]

This was not how I planned to pick up my first Nording pipe, but the price was right, and I suspect ending the auction at 10 am on American presidential election day was a poor financial choice on the seller's part. $55 shipped. Seller claims lightly smoked, appears unsmoked, or smoked only once or twice to my eyes.

Two questions. How many pipes were part of this 'series?' What did they sell for new? This would have been about 15 years ago, and the Internet is not giving me the answers.

To my eyes, it's obviously a lower end Nording in a very fancy box. Cool that it was part of a world record breaking pipe, not cool that there is zilch for information about it, which tells me this was more of a marketing stunt than a collectible piece of history (IMO). The flush transition from shank to stem doesn't seem to be common on Nording pipes.

YouTube video about the pipe:

 

[PLANofMAN]

Well, turns out my eyes are s*** at determining a low quality pipe from a high quality pipe.

The following was told to me by a guy recalling what he remembered, so take these details with a pinch of salt...

After making the "World's Largest Pipe," Erik Nørding made a limited run of pipes celebrating his introduction to the Guinness Book of World Records. There were three styles (and/or finishes), and the pipes were handmade by Nørding himself. This is one of those pipes.

 

[gcm]

NICE

 

[PLANofMAN]

NICE

Thank you.

I read about guys finding $15 Dunhill Christmas pipes. This is MY 'blind squirrel finding a nut' moment.

 

[Chasing Embers]

determining a low quality pipe from a high quality pipe.

Nordings are generally fairly high quality.

I read about guys finding $15 Dunhill Christmas pipes. This is MY 'blind squirrel finding a nut' moment.

Happens somewhat often for one reason or another. One of the Dunhills I've had was a '75 Shell unsmoked with original box and accessories for $20.

 

[pappymac]

Nordings are generally fairly high quality.



Happens somewhat often for one reason or another. One of the Dunhills I've had was a '75 Shell unsmoked with original box and accessories for $20.

My oldest son is a Nording fan and is constantly telling me how great his pipes smoke.

As for the blind squirrel finding a nut, mine was find a Savinelli Giubileo D'Oro at an antique street fair for $3.

 

[PLANofMAN]

My oldest son is a Nording fan and is constantly telling me how great his pipes smoke.

As for the blind squirrel finding a nut, mine was finding a Savinelli Giubileo D'Oro at an antique street fair for $3.

Not a Savinelli smoker, but I've heard of them. That's their non plus ultra grade, right? One in a million briar, 3-5 pipes a year, if lucky? Those pipes? Nice! Got a picture of it? I'd like to see it.

Nordings are generally fairly high quality.



Happens somewhat often for one reason or another. One of the Dunhills I've had was a '75 Shell unsmoked with original box and accessories for $20.

Nice! That was a good score. Haven't had the urge to smoke a Dunhill yet.

I can't quite understand why an English made factory pipe would be so much better than a Danish factory pipe that it would cost three to four times as much.

On the other hand, I've spent over $400 on a shavette type razor and stand, and gave another one away to a friend who did me a great favor. It really is the pinnacle of it's type, and worth every penny, so I get it. When you hit that top tier, you pay hundreds extra for a few percentage points of improvement, and celebrate wildly inside when you find such a thing at basket pipe prices.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Haven't had the urge to smoke a Dunhill yet.

No better than any other pipe. They're just marketed as a luxury brand and folks pay for the name. Cobs have better airflow.

 

[PLANofMAN]

No better than any other pipe. They're just marketed as a luxury brand and folks pay for the name. Cobs have better airflow.

Funny you should say that. The pipe I own with the tightest draw is a cob. The only cob I've ever owned, in fact. Nothing against cobs, but for the same price I could buy an estate pipe... In fact, now that I think about it, the cob cost more than this pipe. It is a very nice cob, for what that's worth, (bronze 150th collector's edition, s-shaped reed stem that no pipe cleaner can pass) and it was a gift from my brother-in-law.

 

[pappymac]

Not a Savinelli smoker, but I've heard of them. That's their non plus ultra grade, right? One in a million briar, 3-5 pipes a year, if lucky? Those pipes? Nice! Got a picture of it? I'd like to see it.

Nice! That was a good score. Haven't had the urge to smoke a Dunhill yet.

I can't quite understand why an English made factory pipe would be so much better than a Danish factory pipe that it would cost three to four times as much.

On the other hand, I've spent over $400 on a shavette type razor and stand, and gave another one away to a friend who did me a great favor. It really is the pinnacle of it's type, and worth every penny, so I get it. When you hit that top tier, you pay hundreds extra for a few percentage points of improvement, and celebrate wildly inside when you find such a thing at basket pipe prices.

Somewhere in the cobwebs of my computer is an email from Savinelli telling me the Giubileo D'Oro line was their very top line pipe at one time. If I remember correctly they said the used either 1 in 10,000 pieces of briar or 1 in 1,000. Being curious, I check the Savinelli website and it looks like it is still the top line of pipes. The website says, "In fact, only 0.1% of the overall selection is deemed suitable for this exclusive series."

The Punto Oro sections says, "PUNTO ORO; in fact, only 1.2% of the global selection is chosen for this series."

Those are the only two that gives information on the rarity of the briar used in the line. I have seen Savinelli's that retailed for more but they were usually a Limited Edition pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

reed stem

There's the problem. The regular ones have a wide open airway.

 

[/Adam\]

Awesome find!! I’m still looking for my first nut Myself. One day maybe.

 

[PLANofMAN]

Awesome find!! I’m still looking for my first nut Myself. One day maybe.

Oh noooo....
That was such an unfortunate choice of phrasing. I appreciate the sentiment though, and I wish you the best of luck in finding and having your first nut.

 

[bullet08]

If you think that's worth US$1,000, it is. Just that other might think differently. Only way to find out is to put up for an auction x)

 

[/Adam\]

Oh noooo....
That was such an unfortunate choice of phrasing. I appreciate the sentiment though, and I wish you the best of luck in finding and having your first nut.

It was meant to be funny for those that thought about it in that way. Cheers!!

 

[PLANofMAN]

Methinks I ought to update this thread, since I have had an email conversation with Erik and family, as well as a phone conversation with Skip, who has run the Briary for decades, about this particular pipe.

Per Erik, he made these for a couple of years after 1989. They are 'smaller' versions of his world record pipe, and he made them in smooth and sandblast. He does not remember what they sold for or how many he made. "For sure, not many."

Skip, unfortunately, has never heard of this particular line of pipes, but did mention that he'd had $5000 pipes made by Nørding before. Those had Byzantine era coins inset in the pipes, and Skip ordered 125 of them. Apparently coin collecting is another of Erik's hobbies. He was very surprised to hear that these pipes were unstamped.

As best I can gather from what wasn't said, there were more than 3 of these made, but less than 20. Or less than 100. Who the hell knows?

Also, the seller lied. It wasn't "lightly smoked," it was completely unsmoked, and that makes it a 'safe queen' for now; at least until I figure out it's value.

In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a Nørding bent apple in the same shape.

Nording also included a photograph of Erik with his World Record pipe in their reply, which I've included below...

 

[PLANofMAN]

Found a fellow on Facebook that has one. Part of a collection of rare and collectible pipes he acquired. His is marked:
422
2
NØRDING
Made in Denmark

Quality level. If this pipe follows his old system, it's a 400 level pipe, model 22. The levels go from 200 (low quality) to 600 (highest quality)
2 is likely the grade. Sandblasts are usually graded 5-1, with 1 being highest quality.

His particular pipe is a high grade pipe, but not the highest grade, if I'm interpreting things correctly.

The stamp that bothers me is the 'Nørding.' If these were all made by Erik Nørding, wouldn't they have his personal stamp?

Edit: I haven't been able to find anything regarding a 22 shape, so 422 may be part of a sequential # system, and not a grade/shape #.

 

[sardonicus87]

Does the seller know much at all about pipes in general? Probably saw it looked clean but and then got confused by the bowl-coating and thought that was from it being smoked?

 

[PLANofMAN]

Does the seller know much at all about pipes in general? Probably saw it looked clean but and then got confused by the bowl-coating and thought that was from it being smoked?

I have no idea. I didn't want to press too much and have him cancel the sale. He lost money on the deal, I can at least confirm that much. There weren't any really good shots of the bowl chamber in the seller's listing, so the claim of it being lightly smoked wasn't an issue until I unpacked it. At that point it went from being a smoked pipe I could occasionally enjoy to an unsmoked safe queen.

I bought it as a cool cheap pipe to try out Nørding pipes for the first time. Didn't expect it to be some super rare high end unsmoked pipe personally made by Erik.

The more I learn about these pipes, the more confused I get, honestly.

What I know as fact: Very limited run. Erik made this particular one and some others in both smooth and sandblast. I've found another that appears to not have been made by Erik, or at least he choose to use the company stamp over his personal stamp for that particular pipe, which makes just as much sense as leaving a pipe unstamped...argh.

What I think I remember from an old listing (not eBay) I saw once and have been unable to re-locate: I believe these were sequentially numbered 1-250 for the smooth, and 251-500 for the sandblasts. I thought the sandblasts sold for $325 and the smooths were $375. Somewhere in that range. The pipe was an estate smooth unsmoked, and unmarked, like mine. It sold for $1,000 a few years ago, and had uncommonly tight straight grain, and probably came from a very old briar.

What I've been told by others: There were three made, and they sold in the $600-700 range new in the early 90's. (So far, I know of 3 that exist, so that's unlikely, unless he was referring only to unmarked pipes, in which case I know of two).

Where's Sherlock Holmes when you need him?

 

[PLANofMAN]

I ought to post this as a caution and warning. This is the fourth unsmoked pipe I've owned. The others got smoked.

This one won't be, not by me, at least. I have continued to display the iron will and fierce resolve I'm known for. Lol.

I of course hunted down a substitute pipe.

This one, unfortunately, wasn't made by Erik, but is the same shape, and is a Nørding grade 02 sandblast 'Scandinavian Original,' an uncommonly seen line. It also has a flush stem mount, and is as close a duplicate as I could find. It ended up costing me a penny less than the other pipe after shipping.

I'm not saying that this is a healthy or rational response to this situation, but it's how I dealt with it.