Okay, I’ve done some thinking about whether high grade pipes are worth the money the retail shops are asking for them and decided that the answer is complex to say the least. I’m going to try and tackle this issue with great hopes that I won’t make a complete fool of myself.
Let me say from the onset that a pipe smoker can buy a new pipe at a fairly decent price and receive an excellent smoker. We all know that. Thirty bucks can go a long way in getting a good pipe in just the right shape. For those of us who’ve been smoking a pipe for years, my guess is that we all have them. However, that’s not the issue. Those high grade buggers that force us to put our economic affairs in order, assessing and reassessing for days, weeks and sometimes months whether that beautiful pipe we’ve fallen in love with at the local pipe shop or on the internet are worth the cash we’re considering shelling out, are.
Let’s take a $500 pipe, one of a kind, crafted by an expert and highly regarded pipemaker who may produce 600 pipes a year. Let’s also say that it takes approximately five hours to transform this pipe from a block of briar to the finished pipe, polished, stamped and ready to go. I arbitrarily chose five hours figuring that I would error on the low side. I’ve read that some Danish craftsmen can take up to 40 or 50 hours on one pipe. The block of briar has been paid for and aged (that will vary from carver to carver - it’s also his money tied up during the aging process).
This block may see only one pipemaker’s hand or may go through two or three hands (in small shops, not factories). So the block is shaped by a band saw, drilled, fitted with a stem, further sanded into a predetermined shape, stained, maybe banded with silver and then it receives the final buffing, stamped and graded all with regards to the individual grain pattern of the pipe and the complexity of the shape. This pipe has a smooth finish. (Sandblasted and rusticated pipes take more time but will, generally, yield less money. Generally.)
So how much money should an expert pipemaker receive for making this $500 that takes him five hours to make? At this level, I personally believe him to be an artist. But I want to error on the low side again so let’s give him $50 an hour. So he’s got $250 invested in labor in a pipe that will retail for $500. He sells the pipe to smokingpipes.com for (you fill in the blank). I have no idea what the mark up on pipes are, but we all know that pipe shops have to make a profit or they don’t stay in business and either does our hypothetical pipemaker. Let say the pipemaker graded this pipe as a perfect (no pits, etc) straight grain so he sells it to the shop for $375. The pipe shop then puts it up for sale at $575 with a mark down sale price of $500 making a profit of $125. That may seem like a pretty big profit margin, but he’s got overhead to consider and employees to pay to keep his doors open. On top of that, he’s not selling $500 everyday either.
So the pipe smoker who buys this pipe because he truly believes that he cannot live without, is not only buying a pipe (hell, he can buy a great smoking Savinelli for $30 on sale!) he’s buying a relatively rare straight grain one of a kind handmade pipe that not only will be an excellent smoke, but he will have years of pleasure just looking at it. For him, the pipe is worth it.
Anyway, that’s how I see it and I’m still not going to cough up three grand for the Castello, but I’m sure someone will! And happy smoking to him (or her)!
So far, no reason for attorneys.
