This morning as the clock crows to welcome a new dawn, I’m enjoying a Marxman pipe so much I’m not wanting to smoke another brand, even a Lee.
Which leads me to ruminate over what differences can there be, in brands of briar pipes.
The first and perhaps most obvious is cosmetic. A pipe with prettier grain, better sandblast, intricate carving, beautiful gold inlaid stars or white dots, or finer craftsmanship or more ornamentation is worth more money.
Then a second difference between briar pipes would be gadgets. Some might prefer a four hole stinger, or a filter, or a carburetor, or maybe a meerschaum lining. Lee had the best gadget to join a pipe I think ever invented.
My Benchmade Marxman Bulldog has decent grain, it’s pretty enough, but is a simple push stem with no gadgets at all, except a stinger I removed.
The third way a maker can distinguish his brand of briar pipe is to only use the absolute finest briar for smoking qualities. Marxman was famous for that.
Of the three differences in brands of of briar pipes the market seems to value cosmetics the most and smoking quality the least.
This perfect Benchmade was $23 delivered.
I suppose it’s best folks don’t all know how much better well cured, ancient, aged Algerian briar smokes, or else a plain Marxman would fetch more money.
Which leads me to ruminate over what differences can there be, in brands of briar pipes.
The first and perhaps most obvious is cosmetic. A pipe with prettier grain, better sandblast, intricate carving, beautiful gold inlaid stars or white dots, or finer craftsmanship or more ornamentation is worth more money.
Then a second difference between briar pipes would be gadgets. Some might prefer a four hole stinger, or a filter, or a carburetor, or maybe a meerschaum lining. Lee had the best gadget to join a pipe I think ever invented.
My Benchmade Marxman Bulldog has decent grain, it’s pretty enough, but is a simple push stem with no gadgets at all, except a stinger I removed.
The third way a maker can distinguish his brand of briar pipe is to only use the absolute finest briar for smoking qualities. Marxman was famous for that.
Of the three differences in brands of of briar pipes the market seems to value cosmetics the most and smoking quality the least.
This perfect Benchmade was $23 delivered.
I suppose it’s best folks don’t all know how much better well cured, ancient, aged Algerian briar smokes, or else a plain Marxman would fetch more money.