Sometimes I just cruise the estate pipes in ebay. I'm not looking for anything in particular, just entertaining myself, and sometimes learning something.
Well I came across this pipe, stated to be a IRC Amalfi from Italy. The pics weren't all that great, but it looked like it might have some decent grain. After a few minutes, I realized that it was an Iwan Ries Co. pipe, and although it wasn't stamped Savinelli, it had the Savinelli shield with the S in it. After looking at it some more, I thought the pipe did indeed have some nice grain, and looked to be in good condition. The auction had about 7 hours to go, and the pipe had no bids on it starting at $8.99, with a buy it now price of $11.70! Why was no one bidding on it, or why hadn't it sold for the $11.70 already? I mean people are usually falling all over themselves trying to get a cheap Savinelli. I had just looked at one of the unfinished Savinelli estate pipes that already had bids going over $15.00 for it. Not that there is anything wrong with the unfinished pipes, but here was a really nicely grained hardly used pipe, that although it didn't have the Savinelli name stamp, it was clearly made by them. All for only $11.70! and the shipping was only $2.50 too! So I went ahead and used the buy it now option. I do believe that sometimes folks let a pipes name, or lack of one, get in the way of getting a very nice pipe.
When I got the pipe I was pleased to see the grain was better than I figured, and had been lightly smoked, with no stem chatter. A salt/alcohol treatment, a little internal scrubbing and cleaning, and some polishing and waxing and it looked almost like new! Ok, now the down side, well, not to me so much, but some of you would be put off by this, it had a lakeland ghost. For me, it just meant I now have a 3rd pipe to use for lakeland tobaccos. Yeah, it was still there a little even after the salt/alcohol treatment, but hey, no bother to me, and it's not like this was a fact known to the potential bidders on this pipe.
Anyway, I'm happy, loaded it with some Glengarry Flake and it smokes great, looks great, and I wasn't even looking to buy a pipe, PAD just happens sometimes... :
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Well I came across this pipe, stated to be a IRC Amalfi from Italy. The pics weren't all that great, but it looked like it might have some decent grain. After a few minutes, I realized that it was an Iwan Ries Co. pipe, and although it wasn't stamped Savinelli, it had the Savinelli shield with the S in it. After looking at it some more, I thought the pipe did indeed have some nice grain, and looked to be in good condition. The auction had about 7 hours to go, and the pipe had no bids on it starting at $8.99, with a buy it now price of $11.70! Why was no one bidding on it, or why hadn't it sold for the $11.70 already? I mean people are usually falling all over themselves trying to get a cheap Savinelli. I had just looked at one of the unfinished Savinelli estate pipes that already had bids going over $15.00 for it. Not that there is anything wrong with the unfinished pipes, but here was a really nicely grained hardly used pipe, that although it didn't have the Savinelli name stamp, it was clearly made by them. All for only $11.70! and the shipping was only $2.50 too! So I went ahead and used the buy it now option. I do believe that sometimes folks let a pipes name, or lack of one, get in the way of getting a very nice pipe.
When I got the pipe I was pleased to see the grain was better than I figured, and had been lightly smoked, with no stem chatter. A salt/alcohol treatment, a little internal scrubbing and cleaning, and some polishing and waxing and it looked almost like new! Ok, now the down side, well, not to me so much, but some of you would be put off by this, it had a lakeland ghost. For me, it just meant I now have a 3rd pipe to use for lakeland tobaccos. Yeah, it was still there a little even after the salt/alcohol treatment, but hey, no bother to me, and it's not like this was a fact known to the potential bidders on this pipe.
Anyway, I'm happy, loaded it with some Glengarry Flake and it smokes great, looks great, and I wasn't even looking to buy a pipe, PAD just happens sometimes... :
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