Unsmoked Pipe?
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At the top of your first photo the 'rim char' is also on the rim not just the bevel at bottom. It looks like someone attempted to clean it or sand and refinish it. There is a similar pipe being sold on ebay as unsmoked and looks unsmoked ... the coating only goes to bottom of bevel not above it. Therefore, I would presume smoked. But ... if the price is right and you like the grain ...
Looks to have been smoked, but hard to say without the chamber being illuminated. It would take a lot of work to bring a used pipe to an unsmoked condition. It's not just the surfaces, it's the left over scent from use that never completely disappears.
My beef is with the level of botoxing that seeks to hide wear and tear, giving the buyer a false sense of the pipe's condition.
My beef is with the level of botoxing that seeks to hide wear and tear, giving the buyer a false sense of the pipe's condition.
I bought a Maigret book on the bay once that the seller stated as unread. I purchased the book thinking it was new, it wan't, a few pages were dog eared. The book was probably unread by the seller, but someone read that book. That description was misleading and I fell for it. Sellers can cleverly word their descriptions to make something sound better than they are.
Why? There are plenty of unsmoked pipes on ebay that really are unsmoked. If you want such a pipe, you will miss some good opportunities.
Also, there are plenty of pipe-sellers who think a pipe is unsmoked, when it isn't. Honest mistakes. I recently bought a pipe from one of the bigger ebay sellers, that was described as 'Near Mint'. I received the pipe, and it looked as close to unsmoked as a pipe could look - the interior of the bowl was perfectly coated. He could have called it 'unsmoked' and I wouldn't have known. I even was able to find the original ebay auction where he bought the pipe, and I was stunned at the job he had done. I like those kind of sellers, but they are few and far between.
On the other end of the spectrum, I've bought a few 1940's-1960's pipes that really were unsmoked, but their abusive shelf lives included dings, stem oxidation, and wrecked finish. Then I look inside the bowl, wipe off the dust and spider-webs (literally) and it's bare wood and lathe marks.
Smell it, if it has been smoked, it's near impossible to remove the scent.
Why does it really matter if it is smoked? Or not? If it is in otherwise perfect condition, that's all that matters. Even if I buy an unsmoked pipe, I will sterilize it before i smoke it. The carver may have stick it in their mouth to test the draw. Once you apply that first bit of flame to a bowl of tobacco, that pipe is no longer unsmoked. I don't see the big deal.
This question has been answered previous to your post.
"I have bought "unsmoked" pipes on EBay and have thought nothing about it because I wanted the pipe. I didn't buy it with the thought that it was a new, unused pipe. I bought it with the mind set that it was used and refurbished to a very, good condition. As hoosierpipeguy says "Once you apply the first bit of flame to a bowl of tobacco, that pipe is no longer unsmoked." If I want assurance that it is a "new" pipe, I buy a "new" pipe. If I want a good, restored pipe that will do many years of service- I buy a "unsmoked" pipe."
This thread has run its course and now people are responding without reading previous posts.
This thread has run its course and now people are responding without reading previous posts.
Caveat emptor. You can't believe everything you read on ebay. I've purchased a couple of estate pipes on ebay that were advertised as being in pristine condition.that had significant damage, in once case, a piece of the shank missing where it met the stem and in another, a noticeable dent in the rim of the bowl. In both instances, I was able to get a full refund and in one instance, the seller let me keep the pipe if I agreed not to give him a negative feedback. It's worth contacting the seller for redress.
As an addendum, my experience with new Petersons is that they do not have bowl coatings; although it's been several years since I've purchased one. In my opinion, a refurbished pipe that has been smoked, is not an "unsmoked" pipe.
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I can't give a definitive answer from these pictures but I've had new in box Petersons with sloppy work including stain inside the bowl, splinters at the draft hole, too-tight stems etc. It wouldn't surprise me if they got some coating onto the bevel of the rim.
The key is to smell the bowl and see if you detect any hint of tobacco smell. And also take the pipe apart and point a flashlight down the draft shank to see if the draft hole shows original bare wood. The wood inside the draft hole on a smoked pipe would have some discoloration from smoke.
Finally, if you like the pipe consider keeping it anyway.
The key is to smell the bowl and see if you detect any hint of tobacco smell. And also take the pipe apart and point a flashlight down the draft shank to see if the draft hole shows original bare wood. The wood inside the draft hole on a smoked pipe would have some discoloration from smoke.
Finally, if you like the pipe consider keeping it anyway.
If I see a pipe advertised as unsmoked I expect it to be brand new and in perfect condition. If it came any other way I would send it back. i have never run into a pipe advertised unsmoked and not gotten a brand new pipe. One bowl smoked through a pipe makes it an estate pipe.
I have purchased a few pipes over the years where you could tell not even a full bowl was smoked through it. The last one I remember was a Scott Thile Bulldog that pipestud was selling. He said what I thought was the case maybe a bowl had been partially smoked in it., and it sold for less than half of retail. It was a nice score on that pipe.
I have purchased a few pipes over the years where you could tell not even a full bowl was smoked through it. The last one I remember was a Scott Thile Bulldog that pipestud was selling. He said what I thought was the case maybe a bowl had been partially smoked in it., and it sold for less than half of retail. It was a nice score on that pipe.
I've not seen a Peterson that doesn't have a bowl coating (I like their new system).
The only real way to determine unsmoked is to view the shank, that's tough to strip to new virgin wood.
The only real way to determine unsmoked is to view the shank, that's tough to strip to new virgin wood.
I have bought and sold several hundreds pipes over the decades dealing with B&M stores, estate sales and eBay. I have only sold two pipes as "used unsmoked" because I bought them new from a dealer at a pipe show because I liked the shape. After keeping them but never lighting them I sold both on eBay as "used unsmoked" only because I knew for a fact that they had never been smoked. Anytime I buy a pike that is new then I assume that it has been smoked and bid accordingly.