Question: What aesthetics do you like in a pipe?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

deadwoodpete

Lurker
May 31, 2012
27
0
Naturally we all look for the pipes that give us a great smoke, but I also know that for many of us choosing a pipe is like picking out a new car. Somefolks like certain styles, coloring, flow lines, and on... and on.
So what do you look for in the look of a pipe?
For myself, I am partial to bents and acorn style bowl types, but I also like Dublin bowl shapes as well. I tend to lean towards an un-lacquered finish, with earth tones to black staining. I also tend to like sandblasted, or rustication surfaces, and carved pipes with slightly out of the norm shapes. (One of the reasons I like the Nordings so much.)
While I appreciate all pipe styles, these are just some of my personal preferences in the look of my pipes.
Anyone else care to share theirs?
**I tried to look through here, and the pipe talk section to see if this had been asked before, but there's a LOT there to get through, and I may have missed it. So, if this has been asked before. My apologies.**

 

barkar

Lifer
Apr 17, 2012
1,104
1
I prefer the traditional shapes. Although I appreciate the workmanship in freestyle pipes, they don't turn my crank.

My preference is to pipes approx, 5 1/2 inches long in billiard, apple, or bulldog shapes with 1/4 bent stems.

Outside finish can be smooth or modelled but I tend to lean to darker finishes. Thickest walls around a 3/4 inch dia.

bowl available in that style.

 

baronsamedi

Lifer
May 4, 2011
5,688
5
Dallas
I like the classic shapes, billiards, apples, bulldogs etc. And I like the smooth finish. The only rust I have is an awesome job Jason Gone did for me. I have mostly straights and a couple bents. One day I am going to get an unfinished Nording though.

 

bigvan

Lifer
Mar 22, 2011
2,192
12
I'll take a well done blast every time. Lately I've been liking bent egg shapes in either a dark brown or black stain.

 

taerin

Lifer
May 22, 2012
1,851
1
My current favorite is the shape you see in my avatar. I forget the name of it, but it's the Peterson System Standard 305, which is just awesome. The tapered bowel is nice and large for a medium sized pipe and has lots of space to wrap your fingers around it. All the bends and curves also make it quite an eyefull as well.

 

lazydog

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 24, 2012
514
1
Well........ I have changed over the years, 1st preferring classic bent shapes, moving on to rhodesian ( but not bulldogs), liking more modern oom pauls, and digging the custombilt larger types. Recently I have swung toward smaller billiards or small apples with 6 inch stems. But.... I'm on to a new weird thought. I buy cheap lots of pipes and get the old dremel out, and totally ruin the original pipe and turn it into a crude hillbilly inbred bastard. Recently took a Mountbatten tall poker that I never smoked, chopped off about a half inch on the top and carved it up with cut off wheel on the dremel. I know this is a bit disrespectful to the original pipemaker, but it is a blast, and have good results. So, in addition to all the pipes in the herd, I'm only adding the bastards at this point. Opposite of pipe maker, pipe destroyer. Couldn't build a nice original pipe if my life depended on it. Also love calabash shapes.

 

reichenbach

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2012
552
2
West Park, NY
I also prefer more traditional shapes finished in brown or dark brown. I'll compromise on the color when it comes to a cob because, hell, it's a cob. I have nothing against the wilder shapes, they're just not for me. I used to like pipes with the hook, but I find the straight ones easier to clean and maybe one day I'll find another bent that I like. That's the best part about this hobby/lifestyle, everything is fluid or it should be or else you're making yourself more miserable than you have to be.

 

winton

Lifer
Oct 20, 2010
2,318
771
Now that I have been in the pipe world for a while, I am primarily attracted to two styles of pipes. For the sake of consistency, I will start with the second. (great line from a dumb movie) I like nosewarmers, small or chunky, but always with a short straight stem. But mostly, I like pipes with a smooth curve from the edge of the bowl all the way to the tip of the stem. This rules out saddle stems, straight pipes, etc. The actual shape of the bowl does not matter to me.
Winton

 

winton

Lifer
Oct 20, 2010
2,318
771
Now that I have been in the pipe world for a while, I am primarily attracted to two styles of pipes. For the sake of consistency, I will start with the second. (great line from a dumb movie) I like nosewarmers, small or chunky, but always with a short straight stem. But mostly, I like pipes with a smooth curve from the edge of the bowl all the way to the tip of the stem. This rules out saddle stems, straight pipes, etc. The actual shape of the bowl does not matter to me.
Winton

 

xray

Might Stick Around
Oct 1, 2011
79
0
NJ
Originally posted by taerin:

I forget the name of it, but it's the Peterson System Standard 305, which is just awesome.
It's a calabash shaped pipe.

 

lankfordjl

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 29, 2011
611
2
Texas
I like rustic/sandblasted bowls that are stained dark. Bent stems on greater than 5 inch pipes and straight stems on less than 5 inch nosewarmers.

 

schmitzbitz

Lifer
Jan 13, 2011
1,165
2
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
I seek out traditional shapes, often with long shanks, and always in the smaller sizes. I have a rather narrow face, and usually clench, so anything heavier than the Brigham in my avatar looks silly and tires my jaw.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Bulldogs and Hawkbills; a nice blast or rustication helps.

DSCN0460.jpg
getimagevar.jpg


vangogh.jpg
DSCN0564-1.jpg


TinskyHawkLeftFull.jpg
TinskyHawkTop.jpg


 

bentmike

Lifer
Jan 25, 2012
2,422
37
For years I've liked traditional bent shapes, billiards apples, etc. Mostly a fan of smooth finishes but I have a few dark stained sandblasts that I like. Lately I've been on a bulldog kick. I love the shape and the feel of the diamond shank as the pipe rests in the hand. The smaller tobacco chamber dimensions of the bulldogs are perfect for the flake I have been enjoying. Last but not least I am a sucker for fancy grain and maybe a little shiny silver bling. :puffy:

 

jonahtke

Can't Leave
Apr 26, 2012
314
0
I like simple shapes and prefer strait stems (a slight bend is sometimes nice). I find that I have a fondness for bowls that ate partially rusticated and smooth finished.

 

pstlpkr

Lifer
Dec 14, 2009
9,694
31
Birmingham, AL
I started with a half bent, and full bents.

But, over the years my tastes have changed.

I've tended toward bulldogs, and Canadians in the last few years.

I do however have a soft spot for free hands and that hasn't changed.

As for the finishes... I prefer smooth with straight grain and birds eyes on the rim and bottom.

Not so much cross grains, or rusticated.

If the finish is rough I prefer sand blasted, that reveals the grain in three dimensions.
By in large, my first criteria when choosing a pipe, is that I just like the way it looks.

If I don't like the shape, or the color/finish doesn't suit me... then I'll pass it by.

 

kabong30

Can't Leave
Jun 2, 2012
329
2
I think that I'm still early in this thing so I'm still determining what I like, but I prefer a smooth style. My first couple of pipes are bent but I also just got my Peterson 106 which actually suits me nicely. But I also have a Pete 314 on it's way, and a Falcon Hunter bent. I'm kind of all over the place at the moment.

 

photoman13

Lifer
Mar 30, 2012
2,825
2
I seem to be really drawn to a pipe if it has a dark rustification, dark semi rustificated pipes, and straight grain pipes. When it comes to shape I really like the look of a good full bent pipe but usually smoke a straight or churchwarden.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.