What is your "Grail" pipe??

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LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,276
20,025
Oregon
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This Castello looks badass to me. Not sure of the shape and can’t say I’m dying to have it. It’s certainly a pipe that I like the looks of that’s out of my price range. For now I’ll keep smoking my trusty Savinelli 104. The grass isn’t always greener.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,984
50,236
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
There were some grail pipes for me, and I obtained most of them. At this point I'm looking more to divest than accumulate There's a moment when you realize that you don't own your collections, they own you.

That said, the one white whale for me would be a Sixten pipe, something of a surprise given that I'm pretty much a Britwood collector with a few American artisan and factory interests as well. But Sixten fits in very well because of my continuing interest in the history of pipes and tobaccos, and Sixten is, in my estimation, the most important and influential carver of the 20th century. But, I'm not adding, and prices are more than I am comfortable paying. So I release that grail and now have none.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,638
My grails rise out of the smoking experience they provide. Acquiring a pipe is not a pinnacle, though I enjoy that of course. So the grail might be my Ser Jacopo or my Ferndown, or a Missouri Meerschaum or Kaywoodie, in the moment.
 

Kingsley

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 16, 2020
297
2,030
25
MI
In the earlier years of my pipe smoking, I found myself having to choose between two Savinelli pipes for VA’s. I made my choice, and it has haunted me ever since. The pipe I didn’t pick was a smooth New Art billiard with a saddle-bit stem, looked perfect for VA’s, and it couldn’t have been more beautiful. Now while the pipe I chose is my go to VA-based pipe, a total workhorse through and through, I still can’t let that one go. In honesty, I doubt the chamber size was perfect for the kinds of blends that I smoke, but I can dream.
Well, I’ll have to, seeing as how they are as rare as manticore teeth in the first place, and that from what I’ve seen they were mostly around .80+ CD.
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Absolutely gorgeous though, coulda been mine for $58.
 

Briar Tuck

Lifer
Nov 29, 2022
1,109
5,744
Oregon coast
I haven't been smoking pipes long enough to have developed any burning passion for a particular pipe. For now I'm just enjoying and expanding my collection of estate pipes.
 
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Searock Fan

Lifer
Oct 22, 2021
2,222
6,090
Southern U.S.A.
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This Castello looks badass to me. Not sure of the shape and can’t say I’m dying to have it. It’s certainly a pipe that I like the looks of that’s out of my price range. For now I’ll keep smoking my trusty Savinelli 104. The grass isn’t always greener.
Here's mine. I bought it at Foyt's pipe shop in Austin, TX in 1971. Cost $35 back then. She has been smoked constantly for over 50 years, so now the stamping on the bottom is worn. It says "Castello Sea Rock Briar" then "SC" and the reg. number. Can't make out anything else. puffy

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