Unbranded Pipes

[Hillcrest]

If a maker didn't think enough of his pipe to name it, I figure there has to be a reason and I pass.

VS : In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature.[3] It is prevalent throughout all forms of Japanese art.[4] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印, sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常, mujō), suffering (苦, ku) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空, kū).

Characteristics of wabi-sabi aesthetics and principles include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and the appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature.

 

[chopper]

I also see nothing wrong with my cavalier: no fills, smokes perfectly, well-proportioned. I don't know what the maker saw that was wrong with it, but I love it. So I guess that's what counts

Back in the day European pipe shops/tobacconists would order batches of pipes from various makers that were simply stamped Bruyere Garantie. It was probably cheaper to buy a bunch of unbranded pipes than branded from the same maker.
Some of my best smokers are unbranded Bruyere Garantie. Most are very well crafted and take a pipe cleaner through to the draught hole.

 

[Searock Fan]

VS : In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature.[3] It is prevalent throughout all forms of Japanese art.[4] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印, sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常, mujō), suffering (苦, ku) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空, kū).

Characteristics of wabi-sabi aesthetics and principles include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and the appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature.

That's very interesting. Too bad it has nothing to do with quality pipes

 

[FLDRD]

I just realized that it's like any other seconds on the planet. We had a store that sold seconds and you just had to look at them to see why. It could be that one cosmetic stitch was out of place or that a shirt had an even number of arm holes. People would always talk about how ridiculous it was. Until you asked them if they'd be happy spending full price on something with a minor and ultimately unimportant defect.

Apparently all my shirts are "seconds".
I'm darn near certain that they ALL have an even number of arm holes...

 

[jpmcwjr]

I wondered about that! Even when my arm was in a sling and I needed only one armhole, I was grateful there were two...

 

[Chasing Embers]

If a maker didn't think enough of his pipe to name it, I figure there has to be a reason and I pass.

Had it not been for the marketing of Wally Frank, Castello would've gone out of business in the 1950s. Didn't have to do with a name, people just didn't care much for them.

 

[Searock Fan]

Had it not been for the marketing of Wally Frank, Castello would've gone out of business in the 1950s. Didn't have to do with a name, people just didn't care much for them.

That's interesting. Can you tell us where this information came from?