Briar is just a material. Very simply, it's a type of root wood that just happens to work very well for smoking pipes!
Other materials are Clay, Meerschaum and of course corn cob (Missouri Meerschaum pipes are cobs not meerschaum. Confused yet?) Each has its purpose and each has merits and flaws as a material.
Estate pipes are a fancy way of saying "used pipes", but that is not a bad thing. I happen to prefer estates for several reasons. 1. It lowers the price point. 2. Someone else gets the job of breaking the pipe in, which is necessary for a briar pipe. 3. I happen to like pipes from past decades better, anyway.
If you want to spend $60 on a pipe, I'd for sure go estate. Find a reputable seller on the Bay like coopersark, bruyerepipes or pipestud and look for pipes you like. When you see one that appeals to you, google it and find what that make/model/year tends to go for as a used pipe and try and keep your price+shipping below that. I recently got a Peterson Meerschaum pipe, a 80s Hilson, and a 60s Preben Holm for about $40 each! I also got a 1969 Dunhill for $100 (those can go for $250-300 used).
