Peterson Pipe of the Year 2023
- Thread starter MikeDub
- Start date
My return to SP got a little screwed up. I rec'd an email that it was being evaluated. I emailed Glen W and SP US and asked why it was being evaluated. Stephen M @ SP US replied that they get 1000's of pipes per month and it takes time to sort them.
I reminded him (via quote) that my new pipe was being returned for a replacement stem from the UK, and it better not be evaluated for resale. He replied that it had gotten sent to the estates department and he had forgotten. I guess they are busy folks, but geesh, it's only been a few days since we communicated and he sent me two mailing labels (first one a .JPG....too fuzzy to use). I would have thought I might be fresh in their minds.
I don't think that I'll see my pipe for a while...
George D's comments a page back about not being able to select the pipe you prefer is spot on. But, no doubt, Peterson will keep releasing POY pipes like it was a Black Friday sale, until we stop buying them. We are voting with our dollars.
I reminded him (via quote) that my new pipe was being returned for a replacement stem from the UK, and it better not be evaluated for resale. He replied that it had gotten sent to the estates department and he had forgotten. I guess they are busy folks, but geesh, it's only been a few days since we communicated and he sent me two mailing labels (first one a .JPG....too fuzzy to use). I would have thought I might be fresh in their minds.
I don't think that I'll see my pipe for a while...
George D's comments a page back about not being able to select the pipe you prefer is spot on. But, no doubt, Peterson will keep releasing POY pipes like it was a Black Friday sale, until we stop buying them. We are voting with our dollars.
I haven't bought a Peterson in quite some time because of quality control issues. Maybe they've tightened their quality control in recent years, but my purchase of a Deerstalker a few weeks ago says otherwise. After admiring the blast I tried to insert a pipe cleaner down to the bowl. No go. I fiddled with it. No go. I took the stem off and here is what I found. This is a nearly straight shanked pipe for God's sake. No crazy angles like on a full bent. This is a complete fail. They make thousands of this model every year . Their tooling must be archaic to produce results like this. Needless to say I returned the pipe.
Last edited:
FWIW ---
The quality / precision of a pipe's execution falls on a spectrum that graphs as a bell curve.
This is true whether it's factory or artisan made.
The fussiness / emotional involvement of customers ALSO falls on a bell curve. (The reason doesn't matter. Some smokers care about certain details intensely, while others can't be made to care.)
When all pipes were sold at walk-in stores---which was effectively every pipe ever made until twenty or so years ago---the "matching up" of the pipe bell curve and the customer bell curve happened naturally. No effort required.
In the Internet Age, though, it's the biggest problem. Provide a dozen expertly-taken photos for every pipe on offer? Logistically impossible.
The only option for a seller is to have a no-questions exchange policy (as long as the pipe is returned undamaged and unsmoked, of course).
Pain in the ass for buyers? Yup, but so was spending days on the road city-hopping to see what B&M's had for sale, which is how it was before the Internet. The price of being able to examine in hand and exert "personal quality control" was vacation days, lots of gas money, and so forth. It was either that or limit your purchases to what was available in your own town.
Returning merchandise you're unhappy with that you bought over the Internet is also a pain in the ass... but every time you go shopping you have more pipes to choose from than pre-Interneters saw in a lifetime.
So it's a wash which way is (was) "better".
My recommendation if you are a fussy buyer is simply to avoid the menu click thing, and pick up the phone. I have NEVER failed to connect with someone who agreed to be my eyes when ordering a pipe. Not once.
As for off-center shank airways, that subject was covered in depth a while back:
The quality / precision of a pipe's execution falls on a spectrum that graphs as a bell curve.
This is true whether it's factory or artisan made.
The fussiness / emotional involvement of customers ALSO falls on a bell curve. (The reason doesn't matter. Some smokers care about certain details intensely, while others can't be made to care.)
When all pipes were sold at walk-in stores---which was effectively every pipe ever made until twenty or so years ago---the "matching up" of the pipe bell curve and the customer bell curve happened naturally. No effort required.
In the Internet Age, though, it's the biggest problem. Provide a dozen expertly-taken photos for every pipe on offer? Logistically impossible.
The only option for a seller is to have a no-questions exchange policy (as long as the pipe is returned undamaged and unsmoked, of course).
Pain in the ass for buyers? Yup, but so was spending days on the road city-hopping to see what B&M's had for sale, which is how it was before the Internet. The price of being able to examine in hand and exert "personal quality control" was vacation days, lots of gas money, and so forth. It was either that or limit your purchases to what was available in your own town.
Returning merchandise you're unhappy with that you bought over the Internet is also a pain in the ass... but every time you go shopping you have more pipes to choose from than pre-Interneters saw in a lifetime.
So it's a wash which way is (was) "better".
My recommendation if you are a fussy buyer is simply to avoid the menu click thing, and pick up the phone. I have NEVER failed to connect with someone who agreed to be my eyes when ordering a pipe. Not once.
As for off-center shank airways, that subject was covered in depth a while back:
Before Using Your Pipes as Flower Pots or Throwing Them in a Landfill, do this... :: Pipe Talk
Because geometry tolerates no argument, sometimes the bottom-dead-center of a pipe's tobacco chamber and the bullseye-dead-center of its mortise floor cannot be connected with a straight line. It isn't a brand-dependent thing, or even (necessarily) a "quality thing". It's simply three...
pipesmagazine.com
I do not think that this is a mistake they drill them like this normally...I ve got several drilled like this...I almost never need to slide a cleaner during smoking it so not a big deal for me..i do not smoke aromatics
Yeah that looks like it could be it. Sometimes it’s been easy to tell what’s a Dark Smooth and what’s a Heritage. In this case I’d only be confident after reading the box label. Though I’m very confident that that’s a lovely pipe
The Dark Smooth shows the grain very easily whereas the Heritage mainly shows a dark, even stain.
Top photo: Dark Smooth between a Rusticated and Sandblast.
Middle photo: Dark Smooth
Bottom photo: Heritage
The Customer service you got sounds similar to what happened to me. Sounds like staffing, policy, and procedure issues dealing with the amount of volume they are getting things are falling between the cracks.
I haven't purchased a Pete Heritage because they look almost black. Not a fan of black pipes. Are they black or more of a Hershey's chocolate? I've never seen one other than online photos.Yeah that looks like it could be it. Sometimes it’s been easy to tell what’s a Dark Smooth and what’s a Heritage. In this case I’d only be confident after reading the box label. Though I’m very confident that that’s a lovely pipe
The Dark Smooth shows the grain very easily whereas the Heritage mainly shows a dark, even stain.
Top photo: Dark Smooth between a Rusticated and Sandblast.
Middle photo: Dark Smooth
Bottom photo: Heritage
View attachment 240863
View attachment 240964
View attachment 240963
Here’s a dark smooth up against a heritage.Yeah that looks like it could be it. Sometimes it’s been easy to tell what’s a Dark Smooth and what’s a Heritage. In this case I’d only be confident after reading the box label. Though I’m very confident that that’s a lovely pipe
The Dark Smooth shows the grain very easily whereas the Heritage mainly shows a dark, even stain.
Top photo: Dark Smooth between a Rusticated and Sandblast.
Middle photo: Dark Smooth
Bottom photo: Heritage
View attachment 240863
View attachment 240964
View attachment 240963
I thought they’d be a more popular finish than the heritage, but they seem to have fizzled out.
Yeah heritage is definitely not Hershey’s than black, but maybe Hershey’s dark chocolate rather than milk.
Heritage on top and Dark Smooth on the bottom, right?
Both are quite light for their stain and look really good.
I may say some terracotas have fills and some do not..I do not remember dark smooth and if there are fills on them or not...But prefer light smooth myself.I am not a fan of heritage finish.There was nice terra cotta and natural poy 23 at the Columbus pipe show...its a decent shape but nothing I absolutely have to own.I got me
1970 made De luxe instead for 40% of the price of POY 23You got it
They look ok, for the price of a deluxe they should do. Much prefer the natural finish myself.
My 2023 Natural #9 came in. Absolutely gorgeous.
Well, very interesting. My pipe was delivered yesterday, sans box.
The button is as it should be. I always fine tune any stem, Peterson or artisan.
I was a little surprised to see this level of oxidation, with 2000 grit paper.
10 minutes, and now I have a stem that meets my standard.
I do this to every pipe rec'd, so no knock on Peterson.
And, well, well, well, look at this.
Most P-lipes do not pass a cleaner. With a military stem, it's a moot point, but makes me feel good about the drilling!
The polished, inner rim, had a little bit of the Peterson bowl coating that I love, easily removed with a micromesh sheet. (I've noticed the sloppy coating on pipes shown here)
And, a proper button lip!
The button is as it should be. I always fine tune any stem, Peterson or artisan.
I was a little surprised to see this level of oxidation, with 2000 grit paper.
10 minutes, and now I have a stem that meets my standard.
I do this to every pipe rec'd, so no knock on Peterson.
And, well, well, well, look at this.
Most P-lipes do not pass a cleaner. With a military stem, it's a moot point, but makes me feel good about the drilling!
The polished, inner rim, had a little bit of the Peterson bowl coating that I love, easily removed with a micromesh sheet. (I've noticed the sloppy coating on pipes shown here)
And, a proper button lip!
Looking good, Al! Can you say what about hitting it with 2000 grit does for stems? Is it just normal the factories/artisans only sand to a lower grit?
Well, I did remove oxidation at 2000 grit. I also then polish with white diamond (as any maker would) then also Meguiars Plastic Polish, that steps yields an even better finish. Its just my way. All my estates get this treatment.
So that top photo was black to start then you hit it with 2000 which exposed the oxidation?