One of my first three nice pipes was a prince made in London. I get those first three a little confused without looking at my trade notes (yes, I kept notes right from the beginning, because I knew trading was going to get hot and heavy right off the bat). We didn't dedicate our pipes back then, but that prince was an Escudo smoking machine. I only have one prince now, but I love the shape. That particular prince was a 16th bent, so I'm bias towards a prince with a slight bend. I think they look a little odd when they're straight.* The downside of that slight bend is that it is unavoidable that you get rim blackening on the side closest to you. I know of a person who has several Dunhill princes, it being his favorite shape. Princes are usually smaller pipes, more in that group 3 or small group 4 range, if you go by Dunhill sizing like some of us do (was just how I was mentored from the beginning). They can look clunky, and with poor forward balance, when they get larger, at least I think they can. My one warning is that for some reason, they can be poorly drilled. I don't know what it is about them, but I've noticed that the hole is often at the bottom of the bowl wall rather then drilled slightly into the bottom. The shape lends itself to having more wood at the bottom, so I don't know why makers don't take advantage of that. It's already a rather small chamber, and then you have the airhole on the side of it, forcing you to futz with the tobacco at the bottom if you want to smoke the bowl all the way down. So yeah, I guess there's more to consider here than one might assume. Nice shape. Just be picky.
*feel like I'm writing medieval erotica for the monarchy
By my estimations, Briar Works makes a nice, somewhat affordable prince. They're out of stock now, but they come in batches.
https://briarworksusa.com/products/briarworks-classic-prince-pipe-c121
. Thanks Swede
