What Defines a "Beautiful" Pipe To You?

[mikethompson]

Beautiful is a subjective term. It gets bandied about quite often, that a pipe has beautiful grain, smokes beautiful, etc.

But to you, what constitutes a beautiful pipe? Just shape? Finish? How it smokes? Pedigree? A combination of both?

To me, it's a cocktail of how it is shaped, graining, colour, and stem work. I'm not sure how good of a smoker it is figures into it for me.

I hope @ashdigger doesn't mind me posting this up, but to me, this is a beautiful Meer.



I have briars that look very nice, but this one comes just close enough to be considered 'beautiful', at least to me.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I hope @ashdigger doesn't mind me posting this up, but to me, this is a beautiful Meer.

Both of those pipes are gorgeous, but that meerschaum is beyond words. If I’d have stumbled onto that thread a little earlier I would’ve bought it!

 

[tschiraldi]

Everyone has their own preferences. For me it is shaping, balance of symmetry between the bowl and shank, flow, which is why I prefer tapered stems to saddles, grain, stain, the absence of flaws, and simplicity. This:

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Shape and the look/grain/stain of the wood (if briar). The depth of the blast if sandblasted along with the structure of the grain pattern.

 

[donjgiles]

What attracts me to a pipe is the shaping and the grain, I love beautiful grain.

 

[Sloopjohnbee]

One that smokes good

 

[ashdigger]

Two pipes that I own display outright beauty.

The first is a 1922 Loewe because the lines are just prefect for a Billiard

The bottom pipe is a 1914 Patent Peterson Bulldog that has a replacement stem. It’s the lines of the replacement stem that show why pipes are functional art. The proportions of this stem are breathtaking. Ryan was given shards of a broken Amber stem and a picture from the Peterson Coffee Table Book to recreate this.

 

[Scottishgaucho]

Any scabby Falcon full of Condor does me.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Not 100% certain, my eyes and mind tell me when I see it. How the lines flow, symmetry, does the color all go together and are the pieces in balance - those are probably the first things that my brain processes.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My PHD is in aesthetics, which is all about this very subject. That first meer has a beautiful patina, but I probably wouldn't enjoy smoking it with that stemwork.

I wouldn't know where to begin answering the overall question, without breaking into a dissertation that would put most of you to sleep. I do know that I find beauty in what I deem the pipe fit for, or what I would imagine smoking in it. Like a woman... some women I am more compelled to enjoy their company with a dinner and maybe dancing and I'd be just as happy to never see again, and some I'd rather skip going anywhere and just ravage until her bones are picked clean. Each woman has her charms, and the charm fits the desires. Each pipe has it's charms, and the charm fits the desire.
For me, it is easier to point out what I detest in something. I detest fat stems, proportions just between sexy and ridiculous, green or blue stains, corncobs, and fat ankles.

But, if everyone found the same thing attractive, the whole species of mankind would die off. So, it's great if someone likes things that I am not attracted to. It's just human. Someone has to breed the fat girl.

 

[kola]

Like women..it's all about looks and performance.

 

[ChuckMijo]

Probably my best looking pipe. I did a little customized stain work. Love the look.

 

[solideogloria86]

For me it varies but I know it when I see it. Everything comes together completely and I can't find any fault in it.
As an example, I can be on sp looking at say, Peterson 999 Irish army. Because they show each individual pipe I can look at the 5 or 6 "identical" pipes and end up with one I really like and the other 4 or 5 have something disappointing about them and only the one specific specimen would satisfy.

 

[olkofri]

Aesthetics. Solely. Just like with women.

Function is a completely different matter. Some beautiful pipes might be poorly drilled and be terrible smokers, but they're beautiful nonetheless.

 

[briarbuck]

Why do I like GM muscle over Ford? No idea...but I know what I like when I see it.

 

[jguss]

The whole exceeds the sum of the parts. What I’m really referring to, in large part, is harmony.

 

[mso489]

This sounds like a discussion of visual appeal specifically, not smoking characteristics, and in that mode, I like a dynamic flow to the lines of a pipe. It should suggest movement, motion, and have distinct surprises and uniqueness.

 

[olkofri]

The whole exceeds the sum of the parts. What I’m really referring to, in large part, is harmony.

Indeed. Harmony. That's why I love perfect proportion in a given shape.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Anything not bulldog or rhodesian shaped with a nice ring blast.

 

[mikethompson]

But harmony could also describe how the pipe serves its purpose as a smoking tool, while at the same time being aesthetically pleasing no?