Soliciting Advice on My Next Pipe Purchase

[beezer]

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?

 

[Merton]

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.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

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]

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.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

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]

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...

 

[MarcosEZLN]

Al Pascia has great prices on Radice and, although I've never purchased from them, they get consistently great reviews for customer service and shipping times.

 

[spicy_boiii]

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:


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:



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

 

[Merton]

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.

 

[lochinvar]

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.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Radice is hard to beat for the money. Moretti is a great value and would be well under your $250 budget.

 

[smokeymo]

Are you looking for something brand new or are you open to estates as well?

 

[burleybreath]

"...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.

 

[solideogloria86]

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.

Musico Sandblasted Billiard (Floodlight) | Buy Musico Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes.com

Smokingpipes.com is your one stop shop for Musico Sandblasted Billiard (Floodlight) Tobacco Pipes and all your tobacco smoking needs. From new tobacco pipes and estate tobacco pipes to tin pipe tobacco and bulk pipe tobacco, we have everything you need

www.smokingpipes.com

 

[smokeymo]

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.

 

[Ahi Ka]

+1 on the Wilmer AAA grade

edit: also make sure to check the forum’s sales section.

 

[OzPiper]

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 ?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

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).

 

[mso489]

I'd look at Savinelli on SP for their vast range of pipes at all price levels.

 

[FurCoat]

"...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.