What's Your "White Whale" Pipe?
- Thread starter tslex
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Just got my Moby Dick. The British Bulldog, a bent billiard #4 Dunhill limited edition bruyere with a silver cap shaped like a bulldog's head. Will try to post some photos of it next week.
There was a little hole in the wall tobacco shop in Tappahanaock, Va. There i saw this merr shaped like a rose. we were on a road trip at the time so i didn't have the money to spend. When i went back it was gone. I've never seen another one.
I'd have to hit the lottery or sell my spleen on the black market to afford it, but I love this pipe:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/this-horn-is-truly-beautiful
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/this-horn-is-truly-beautiful
vaboatbuilder hit on something that's important to me: having that personal connection with the pipe maker or shop means a lot to me. A pipe that is very well made. With a certain quality, how it is drilled and how well things line up. A shop in Kentucky had some good handmade pipes, I might have to check back to see if they have any "white whales".
I'd love this, but there is no way I can really justify spending that much on a pipe at the moment.
I would really love a gnarly old sandblast'd Sixten Ivarsson.
But my true white-whale is probably Jørn Micke.
like this:
http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=62389
28g of briar heaven!!!
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...even more angelic if it has an original box
I would also be content with a Micke Make inspired Alex Florov
Micke sold most his pipes in Japan, they are $$$,
a fun eye-popping search on google images using the term
" ヨーン・ミッケ " is quite an adventure down the rabbit-hole.
. . .
::
But my true white-whale is probably Jørn Micke.
like this:
http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=62389
28g of briar heaven!!!
:
:...even more angelic if it has an original box
I would also be content with a Micke Make inspired Alex Florov
Micke sold most his pipes in Japan, they are $$$,
a fun eye-popping search on google images using the term
" ヨーン・ミッケ " is quite an adventure down the rabbit-hole.
. . .
:
:
Neill Archer Roan just gave me another White Whale, his 2013 Pipe of the Year, a Jack Howell Shape 284. I love the Churchill Rad did last year, and this is is it's equal on my lust list. The only thing that gives me pause (besides low bucks in my PAD account...) is the button looks a little thick.
Nice whale, misterlowercase. I love that pipe, too, except I had only seen the Florov version before your posting that smokingpipes link. And that Google search you linked too -- wowzer! Gert Holbek's Polonius (or any Holbek pipe) is my white whale, but a Micke is close behind. Any idea what Florov charges for one of those? And would he even make another one -- I only know of the one belonging to Neill Archer Roan.
Mine would be a JT Cooke black blast chubby billiard with an orange swirl acrylic stem. A cool $850 would land me that whale. Dream on ...
Seriously, I don't lust over something that I know is next to impossible to own, i.e. a Micke or a Nordh, so I buy what I like and enjoy looking at what others do have some to share, either in the hand or via a photo. I have 3 on commission by Rad Davis, Jack Howell and Riccardo Santia, I plan on adding an Askwith Morta and a Becker Morta to go with the 60 some odd pipes I already own. If something comes across my radar and I have the means I buy it other than that I'll just enjoy what I have. Regards and great smoking.
For those who lust a Sixten Ivarsson, here is the one I own, a bamboo prince.
For those who lust a Sixten Ivarsson, here is the one I own, a bamboo prince.
Great approach, fishnbanjo. I think if you're in a position to have pipe on commission with those artisans, then you are putting plenty of whales into the hold.
I think for me the notion of the white whale pipe is fun more than anything (certainly not the same destructive obsession as poor Ahab suffered). The idea of this very particular pipe being out there (as I said, birth year Dunhill bent bulldog, ideally in a blast with a cumberland bit) keeps me keen to look at what comes available and -- to be honest -- is often good motivation not to buy some "lesser" (an entirely subjective assessment) pipes.
My white whale, should I find it, won't be terribly hard to kill, as it will cost a few hundred bucks, which is doable for me. I CAN see how really desiring -- lusting as you say -- something exceedingly rare (a certain Ilstead or Bo Nordh) or well beyond one's affordability threshold (which those pipes would be for me) could lead to frustration.
My little white whale is just . . .tantalizing.
I think for me the notion of the white whale pipe is fun more than anything (certainly not the same destructive obsession as poor Ahab suffered). The idea of this very particular pipe being out there (as I said, birth year Dunhill bent bulldog, ideally in a blast with a cumberland bit) keeps me keen to look at what comes available and -- to be honest -- is often good motivation not to buy some "lesser" (an entirely subjective assessment) pipes.
My white whale, should I find it, won't be terribly hard to kill, as it will cost a few hundred bucks, which is doable for me. I CAN see how really desiring -- lusting as you say -- something exceedingly rare (a certain Ilstead or Bo Nordh) or well beyond one's affordability threshold (which those pipes would be for me) could lead to frustration.
My little white whale is just . . .tantalizing.
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