Estates: Where does your interest lie?

[E.A. Fumare]

When I first began purchasing estate pipes it was a fiscal decision. I simply had a preference for some of the better made pipes and realized that an estate in well kept condition - a pipe already broken in and well seasoned and easily restored to near new - was by far a better bargain than buying new, and that I could accumulate more of them with my modest budget. My initial purchases resembled a frenzy really, buying whatever looked to be a decent pipe with no thought towards style, no game plan towards collecting nor idea of what I was doing other than accumulating pipes.

Natural selection won out and I found myself with two categories of estates, those I smoked and those I did not. The group of 'Those I did' turned out to be the smaller collection. After selling, trading or throwing away much of the 'Those I did not' group I proceeded to do practically the same thing a second time, fooling myself this time with the intent (or so I thought) of seeking out This style or That style. After the culling of that second flurry of pipes I was again left with a small collection, and then the light went on. What was left from each purchasing forray were smallish, well crafted British and Italian pipes that were simple, elegant and at the higher end of my price limit. The wood on these pipes was warm and solid and flavored the smoke with 'A little something' that was not so much a flavor but an ability to bring out certain spectrums of a tobaccos flavor. It was a lesson taught of the briar itself; that there were significant differences in the briar used by certain carvers or carving houses and that cheap pipes often meant cheap briar.

The group three and four pipes by Dunhill and Sasieni and Castello are treasures, those carved by Ashton and Ser Jacopo that barely approach group five and are at the limit of what I consider big enough smoke wonderfully! There are a few by Mastro de Paja and Viprati and Ferndown that are a solid group four, all are straight and simple and a joy to smoke. All were estates, all bought at half or less the cost of new, none are for sale! They are a part of me now.

I have purchased several of these same brands new from a shop or an on-line retailer and have found them to be no better than the estate found in fine condition. If someone wanted my opinion on why a person should want to buy someone else's old used pipes, the preceding sentence sums it up as well as a page full of apologetic, persuasive argument ever could.

If I have blatantly left out of my commentary the Danish influence there is a reason. I have saved the most controversial and most difficult for last. I say controversial because there is a significant number of collectors of the high grade Danish pipe that I do not wish to insult or spar with, and difficult because this is one area where I find myself battling internally.

I love Danish high grade pipes. They are things of beauty! Among 'Pipes as art' they set the bar. Among the most beautiful things I've ever seen crafted by the hands of man sit a good number of Danish pipes. The flair exhibited; the ingenuity initiated by the craftsmen; the meticulous attention to detail by artists such as the Ivarssons, Chonowitsch, Nordh, S. Bang (Per and Ulf) and so many others is nothing short of amazing. The issue, however, is twofold. First and foremost they are brass rings unobtainable to most. Their cost is so significant that owning even one is beyond the realm of possibility to most pipe smokers, so they become a non-factor, nothing more than a photograph viewable on a computer, they are basically unreal to us. The second issue is one I may get slammed for and can only defend on a subjective level - they do not smoke nearly as well as the more modest Italian and British pipes.

Now before the floggings begin let me qualify that comment with this, the above is stated only as an opinion of one man who owns and loves his fifty some British and Italian pipes of modest but noble pedigree and who has owned exactly four high grade Danish pipes, two of which were sold in short order. A Chonowitsch that was so lovely to behold was a bit of a gurgler even for this patient smoker and was definitely not so wonderful a smoking pipe as it was a piece of art. A pair of pipes by S. Bang were split up when one was sold for the very same reason. The one I kept was put on display only because it was too beautiful to let go of and I felt I should keep at least one gorgeous example of the Danish art even if I smoke it only occasionally. I do have a pipe by Peter Hedegaard that smokes very well, it was the only one of the four that I would have kept if their quality as smoking instruments were the only criterion in judging them.

So my impression of Danish high grades is certainly skewed by a lack of examples, but it is also relevant in that it represents a concerted (though small) effort to experience them and compare them against my beloved little jewels.I certainly do not post this as a proclamation, but as an impression and do certainly entertain your own impressions and opinions, my friends.

But there is still one small subset that I must comment on, and that is of the older high end production pipes made by Stanwell. These are wonderful smoking pipes, the older pipes bearing the registered numbers and such stampings as Straight Grain or Flame Grain. I have come across several, fine examples of medium sized billiards that have nice thick walls and smoke divinely, and am proud to display them in my collection. These pipes are an anomaly because they can still be found for great prices in good condition and they will reward the smoker with wonderful performance.

The estate market affords one the opportunity to acquire pipes the smoker may otherwise not be able to obtain, or the ability to propagate a growing collection more rapidly. I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences with this facet of the hobby, so please feel free to post your thoughts.

[TheMacDonald]

Slightly off topic from the original post--I had a conversation with the owner of a my favorite pipe shop in the Boston area last year. He said that the estate market was having a negative effect of high end pipe makers because it put them in a situation where they were competing for the customers dollars with higher end Dunhills and the like, as well as in some cases their own pipes back on the market. Essentially, there is already a limited market for $400 pipes, and if you double the supply and/or put the same pipes on the market for $2-300 the pricing pressures coupled with the laws of supply and demand make it difficult for an un-established maker to sell new high end pipes. Without new pipes hitting the market to eventually become estates, the estate market would slow considerable and pricing for estate would rise in relation with short supply. The industry as a whole may suffer long term. This was already effecting his business, both at the store and online. He also said that he thought this would be the final demise of Dunhill’s pipes in particular due to their prevalence and popularity in the Estate market and the perception of their waning quality.

Outside of the obvious economic factors, (which reminds of the, nearly un-smoked, large gourd calabash I picked up for $40) one of the things that draws me to estates is the history of a piece. If I know a little about the previous owner, it makes the purchase all the more enticing. Also, I love to peruse estate sales because I often find some unusual pipe that I didn’t know I want until I saw it, like the saxophone Backus meerschaum that was a steal but I never smoke because its too big even for my partiality to gregariously behemoth pipes.

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[E.A. Fumare]

A very good reply and excellent point made. I wonder though if the estate market cuts deeply into the $400 pipe market - do people who prefer to buy brand new Dunhills really consider estates - or does it afford the lesser financially enabled gent to obtain something he'd otherwise never be able to afford.

I do see how EBay could be detrimental to the Brick and Mortar pipe shop, just as the internet cigar retailer draws heavily away from the Brick and Mortar cigar house. I think the end result may be fewer shops you can walk into and have a relationship with, but a greater opportunity to obtain these things and get more for your dollar. Certainly the layman is much more able to see and learn about and even buy estates as they are so prevalent on EBay, but the situation is a win and a loss at the same time.

Then there is the likelihood that internet tobacco sales will eventually be outlawed or taxed to the point that it will be of no savings at all and we will once again be loyal to the handful of actual shops that still exist.

[TheMacDonald]

I used the number $400 arbitrarily regarding higher end pipes, but I do think the estate market does cut into the market, especially the Dunhill line. A portion of the gravitas of Dunhill is its history. I know a lot of pipe smokers are antiquarians by nature. How better to get a piece of that storied history than to buy a pipe years closer to the hand of Alfred Dunhill? The first time I searched for a Dunhill I came across hundreds of estates. I was able to get a shell billiard ODA dated 1974 for about half of what it would be new. Not only was it (in my opinion) a good deal, but also the date has personal significance. Compounding my decision was the consistent opinion in the pipe community that the quality of Dunhill’s production has gone down.

Then there is the likelihood that internet tobacco sales will eventually be outlawed or taxed to the point that it will be of no savings at all and we will once again be loyal to the handful of actual shops that still exist.

Is this the dawn of a new business cycle? Businesses that found it easier to conduct business online because of regulations and taxes becoming taxed and/or regulated back into their brick and mortar operations? Pipe smokers forced into underground “speakeasies” in order to pontificate and fumigate in a gentlemanly fashion.

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