Soliciting Advice on My Next Pipe Purchase

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beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
Morning Pipers,

About an hour ago, after smoking a delicious bowl of Solani 660 Silver Flake, I dropped my favorite Boswell pipe and the tenon broke off from the stem and is lodged in the mortise. Absolutely heart breaking as it happened, but something I can recover from with some repair work.

That said, I realized I don't have a real good backup pipe I enjoy. So...I'm interested in recommendations for my next purchase.

I'm looking for something under $250 and prefer a large bowl in a straight classic billiard shape.

What are some good smokers in this price range and category?
 
Jun 23, 2019
1,845
12,758
Morning Pipers,

About an hour ago, after smoking a delicious bowl of Solani 660 Silver Flake, I dropped my favorite Boswell pipe and the tenon broke off from the stem and is lodged in the mortise. Absolutely heart breaking as it happened, but something I can recover from with some repair work.

That said, I realized I don't have a real good backup pipe I enjoy. So...I'm interested in recommendations for my next purchase.

I'm looking for something under $250 and prefer a large bowl in a straight classic billiard shape.

What are some good smokers in this price range and category?

Check out Neerup - classic Danish shapes, sometimes with a modern twist/cheeky flair - HUGE bowls.
 

beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
Radice. Handmade, uncoated bowl, wide open draw and much better stem work than Castello. One of the great pipe bargains out there and $250 will get you virtually any one you like.

Where is the best place to shop for these?

Check out Neerup - classic Danish shapes, sometimes with a modern twist/cheeky flair - HUGE bowls.

Thank you! I'll look into these.
 
Jun 25, 2021
1,369
4,443
England
Don't know about American prices, but here in the UK you can get a large bowled Northern Briars for around the £200 mark or less.
Bill "Ashton" Taylor said that Ian Walker carves the best stems in England, and he uses the same Italian Briar that Ashton uses. I have a couple and they are really superb smokers. and look and feel the business.
All hand made of course.
 

Merton

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 8, 2020
941
2,499
Boston, Massachusetts
Where is the best place to shop for these?



Thank you! I'll look into these.
SP carries Radice (other sites as well). I have smoking them for years and, in the last year or so, i have noticed that they sell fairly quickly on SP. They do post a new batch every 2-3 weeks on SP. Right now there is a beautiful Radice smooth billiard on the site for around 250 . Their rusticated line "rind" and sanblasted line "silk cut" are usually less expensive . People, i think, have finally caught on to a quality bargain I Italian pipes. There are a number of very good Italian marques: Castello, Ardor, Cavicchi, ser jacopo among others but all cost more, often substantially than Radice. Jacono is another brand which is priced more moderately and look like nice handmade pipes, although i have never smoked one. Good luck, half of the fun in in discovering...
 

spicy_boiii

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 5, 2020
592
2,728
Bay Area, California
If you haven't tried a cob or a falcon, those are great cheap options.

Re Neerup: Straight Neerup's aren't too common, but are an amazing bang-for-the-buck option. The bowls are a little wide for me.

Here's mine:

IMG_20201006_145507.jpg
Believe this one was about $140 or so.

Bruno Nuttens is another option. He does good work and has some billiards available now.

I bought a Bing from him that has a great draw:

IMG_20210507_191556.jpg

Besides the Falcon/cob, my suggestion would be a Comission as you have the budget for it.
 

Merton

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 8, 2020
941
2,499
Boston, Massachusetts
If you haven't tried a cob or a falcon, those are great cheap options.

Re Neerup: Straight Neerup's aren't too common, but are an amazing bang-for-the-buck option. The bowls are a little wide for me.

Here's mine:

View attachment 93776
Believe this one was about $140 or so.

Bruno Nuttens is another option. He does good work and has some billiards available now.

I bought a Bing from him that has a great draw:

View attachment 93778

Besides the Falcon/cob, my suggestion would be a Comission as you have the budget for it.
There are two current makers whose work I really covet: Bruno nuttens, especially his smooth Bing pipes and those incredible Jack Howell sandblasts. That Nuttens is one great looking pipe.
 
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lochinvar

Lifer
Oct 22, 2013
1,687
1,632
Check out some of the Upshalls on eBay. They generally run large, and fall in your budget. Or if you can find an estate Rinaldo Titania those are HUGE and Rinaldo is an excellent smoker.
 

burleybreath

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 29, 2019
955
3,327
Finger Lakes area, New York, USA
"...large bowl in a straight classic billiard shape." Like the British/French versions? That's my preference too. They're wherever you find them, as the regular 3/4" by 1.5" by 5.5" are ubiquitous. My larger billiards are the aforementioned Upshall, a GBD, a Jean Lacroix, and a huge Edwards, pictured below. As I said, they're wherever you find them. If you can handle the slight Italian deviation, and since I don't own a Radice, I'd recommend Savinelli.

edward4.JPG
 
Jul 17, 2017
1,692
6,283
NV
pencilandpipe.home.blog
This would be my pick. I really love my Musico and am always tempted to pick up another, even though I don't need anymore pipes. I smoke it as much as my Eltangs.
002-008-0429.6941.jpg

 

smokeymo

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 1, 2020
173
482
AZ
Are you looking for something brand new or are you open to estates as well?
Piggybacking onto my previous comment.
If you're open to estate pipes I'd go with Willmer or Lane-Era Charatan. Both are big pipes that have amazing briar (better than Dunhill imo). They also won't break when dropped. Shit I was buffing one of mine on a wheel and shot it clear across the room. Not even a scratch.
If you are buying brand new I think the previous recommendation of a Radice is a good one. A higher end Savinelli would be good as well.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,756
30,562
71
Sydney, Australia
Go to SmokingPipes and do a refined search. So many options you'd do your head in
?
I have Ashton, Ferndown and Wilmer straight billiards and they are all on the more substantial side with thick, solid bowls, if that is your preference.
I love Bruno Nuttens pipes, but his Bings and billiards are in the more elegant style with smallish- medium sized bowls (group 3-4)

But if the Boswell is a favourite, why not another Boswell ?
 
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Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
First off get a Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman for emergencies, at $10 there's no reason not to, and the basic $0.80 plastic stems have the most open draw of any factory pipe ever made so it's a unique experience in its own right, and those Cob stems are still more open than 99.999% of artisan pipes.

Both of my Radice pipes are drilled to 3mm the same as the average Savinelli, so is Ser Jacopo. Basically the entire pipe industry is standardized on a 3mm bore in the stem (though you'd be surprised at how many pipes are drilled brilliantly right to the button but then end up at a tiny 2.5mm hole in the button, Brebbia and Vauen like to do that, which is a shame because they have truly exceptional drilling in the shank).

Outside of the usual Missouri Meerschaum and Castello, the only notable exceptions I've found are upper range pipes from Briarworks and Scott's Pipes (the "S. Klein Design" and "Handcrafted" lines).
 
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FurCoat

Lifer
Sep 21, 2020
8,764
78,508
North Carolina
"...large bowl in a straight classic billiard shape." Like the British/French versions? That's my preference too. They're wherever you find them, as the regular 3/4" by 1.5" by 5.5" are ubiquitous. My larger billiards are the aforementioned Upshall, a GBD, a Jean Lacroix, and a huge Edwards, pictured below. As I said, they're wherever you find them. If you can handle the slight Italian deviation, and since I don't own a Radice, I'd recommend Savinelli.

View attachment 93789
Can't go wrong with a Savinelli and for 250 budget you can get two great pipes to add to the rotation.
 
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