Take a look at this piece of wood!

[NeroWolfe]

Hey !!! I have an idea. Why don't we buy it as a group, with equal shares. Then each member of the consortium gets to keep the pipe for 3 months, then passes it on the the next member, etc., etc. The fewer the members, the more often one will have the pipe. On the other hand, with a lot of members, it might be 10 years before it comes around again! LOL !! LOL !!

 

[Airborne]

Hey !!! I have an idea. Why don't we buy it as a group, with equal shares. Then each member of the consortium gets to keep the pipe for 3 months, then passes it on the the next member, etc., etc. The fewer the members, the more often one will have the pipe. On the other hand, with a lot of members, it might be 10 years before it comes around again! LOL !! LOL !!

With my luck, it'll be August of 2019 before I get a chance at it!!! Hehehehe

 

[mark]

That's a one-in-a-million piece of briar, and the guy absolutely nailed the pipe placement in it. 3,000 worth? I dunno, but that's a rarer piece of pipecrafting than you guys are mostly admitting, in my opinion.

Oh, I think we're all drooling over it Sas,,,maybe a bit of sour grapes, but one thing stands out,,,shaping that pipe into a standard form is the genius of it,,,nothing to detract from the amazing grain.

 

[ruta2]

NeroWolfe, I seem to remember something about three high school friends having the same idea and getting together on the purchase of a car. The car was a beater on its last legs, but it outlived their friendship. :tongue:

(Mark, I agree -- it is perfect precisely because it conforms to a traditional shape. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was a freehand.)

 

[ruraldean]

Nice to see there's a saving if you buy it. I've just saved over three grand by not buying it.

I'm good at maths I am.

 

[Harlock999]

Nice to see there's a saving if you buy it. I've just saved over three grand by not buying it.

I'm good at maths I am.

:cheers:

 

[LIPIPE]

Hey John: Don't cut up the card ....you'll need it for the tobacco. Just stay the hell out of Cup of Joe's and come to my house instead. You bought enough tobacco to stay happy for a very long time. It was great meeting up brother. You may have noted that I exercised great restraint. My Amex card stayed in my wallet.

 

[WaydeG]

I think there are two schools here... those that can appreciate the work and those who can afford it. I'm in the first. Like any other piece of finely crafted materials it's only worth what someone is willing to pay. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine shelling out $3k for a pipe. My purchasing leans way closer to the function column as opposed to the form column.

I'm a firm believer in paying top dollar for two things, attorneys and tools. So far, no reason for attorneys.

 

[Airborne]

Hey John: Don't cut up the card ....you'll need it for the tobacco. Just stay the hell out of Cup of Joe's and come to my house instead. You bought enough tobacco to stay happy for a very long time. It was great meeting up brother. You may have noted that I exercised great restraint. My Amex card stayed in my wallet.

Hey Marty - Got your email. Will respond a bit later. How are things in your area? Tie down the house! My daughter is fine. She's in a No Evacuation Zone so she bought extra food and water and will hunker down in her apartment with her cats and ride it out. Unfortunately her boyfriend is back in Minnesota. He's suppose to be flying in on Sunday, but I don't think that's going to happen. NYC authorities are saying the airports could be 6 feet under water!

Is Long Island being evacuated?

Stay safe my friend. My best to Harry.

 

[Harlock999]

I've spent more money on guitars than I care to calculate. Now I spend on pipes, but I have to remind myself that as nice as a certain pipe may be, it's just a pipe. Sacrilege, I know!!
For me, my mid life crisis did not manifest itself in the form of a hot red Corvette. It was more like a cool black Les Paul Custom. And like many of the older guys you see driving their Corvettes down the highway, it was more a case of finally being at the age and place in life that I could afford the things I wanted as a kid. I certainly wouldn't begrudge or ridicule someone who bought that Castello. Hell, If I were ridiculously wealthy, I probably would too, although I would prefer one without the Italian flag on it, as I think it takes away from the beauty of the briar. That, and I abhor nationalism. But that's one of the great things about this forum, we can hash out all manner of "would of, could of's" in peace.

In the end, it's all relative, as even the most exquisite Bo Nordh masterpiece would pale in a price comparison with what some have, and continue to pay for 1959 Les Pauls.

 

[SpeedyPete]

With our exchance rate, I will have to fork out more than R23,000 to buy this pipe. So I can only dream about it. But, even if I could buy it, it would be very difficult for me to put fire to such a piece of art. So in stead I will go ahead and order the Peterson Donegal Rocky 80s I've been wanting for so long!!! At R420.00 I won't mind firing it up.

 

[Buckshot]

Both the bowl and the shank.

I'm cutting up my Visa card. This is just too much of a temptation.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/castello/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=83287

Hey John...why don't you show this to your wife. Christmas is going to be here before you know it. :santa:

http://www.paylesspipes.com/items.php?deptid=6

 

[Airborne]

Both the bowl and the shank.

I'm cutting up my Visa card. This is just too much of a temptation.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/castello/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=83287

Hey John...why don't you show this to your wife. Christmas is going to be here before you know it. :santa:

http://www.paylesspipes.com/items.php?deptid=6

Hahahahaha! Now you are trying to get me in trouble! :lol:

 

[sstodvictory]

I guess I'm going to be the spoiler in this thread. While the symmetry is outstanding, for that price I'd expect tighter grain than that, not that I'd buy any pipe that expensive.

Steve

 

[Airborne]

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)!

 

[LIPIPE]

John: Thoughtful essay. My addendum would be....

Are you planning to place the pipe on a rest and display it on your grand piano in front of your Waterford crystal vase, or are you going to smoke the crap out of it and throw it on the dash board of your pickup between smokes? The expense may be justified in the former scenario but certainly not in the latter. A museum piece is generally not smoked. A great smoking pipe is usually not a museum piece. My problem is always that I look at my displayed pipes a lot and then I am compelled to smoke them. I would be miserable if I could only look and not smoke. Likewise I would be miserable if I smoked a new museum quality pipe and by so doing made it a "used" pipe.

I recall buying my first new car, a 1973 Chevy Malibu. It was my Rolls. I kept the car in the garage and just looked at it. One day a friend told me that cars are meant to be driven and not preserved. Low and behold it got it's first scratch and then it was all downhill from there. My pipes all get smoked so I stay far far away from the expensive ones and keep my life uncomplicated. So when a rim invariably gets scorched or a stem begins to show oxidation I don't fret about it and just continue to enjoy the pleasure of a great smoke in a comfortable pipe.

 

[Harlock999]

I love discussions like this one, it's what made me decide to join BoB in the first place!

My opinion is, and has always been, that not every pipe needs to be smoked. There is no shortage of perfectly serviceable pipes in existence, and there just isn't that much variation in the performance of one good pipe to another. As much as I enjoy celebrating pipes, they are in essence the very simplest of tools. And even if the world's briar supply dwindled, estate pipes and cobs can keep us smoking for quite some time. But some pipes, like the Castello that sparked this debate, are like show pieces. A testament of a craftsman's skill, and nature's random beauty. And the great thing about pipes is that, unlike something like vintage cars, they can survive for generations with a minimum of maintenance. If that pipe were mine, it would remain untouched by flame, and barring some catastrophic event, like a house fire (which would be ironic), it would be around long after I'm gone. And who knows, maybe the next person that chances upon it will have a different philosophy, or bigger balls, and fire it right up.

 

[Airborne]

Buying an expensive pipe and not smoking it is tantamount to buying a Lamborghini and not driving it or an expensive painting and never looking at it.

Things are made to be used and give the user pleasure. Ah, you say, you can derive pleasure from merely looking at an expensive pipe! Yes, you can and that is part of the charm of an expensive pipe. But remember that the primary function of a pipe is to provide its owner with pleasure of smoking a blend of tobacco. Theoretically, a pipemaker can craft a pipe sans a draft-hole (think of a Lamborghini w/o an engine). The exterior beauty would be the same, but its primary function would no longer exist. Who would buy it?

And the beat goes on . . .

 

[NeroWolfe]

Airborne: Indeed !!!!!!!!!! A few observations:

1 - Why buy an expensive pipe and not smoke it, holding on to it until you die; and then your wife disposes of it to someone who ultimatley smokes it and enjoys it !!!!

2 - 99.999999 % of pipes purchased as an "investment", leaving it unsmoked, hoping they will go up in value and one can make a killing selling it, never get there. Of course it does happen, but it is rare !!

3 - This discussion also gets into the old "debate' about a SMOKING PIPE versus collectong a pipe as a piece of ART. Some pipes are amazing pieces of art, but are clearly not made for true smoking and enjoyment. Those pipes, collected as pieces of ART, probably are best left to the pedestal in the display case. Just a different part of the hobby; not wrong, just a different perspective.

 

[Harlock999]

Buying an expensive pipe and not smoking it is tantamount to buying a Lamborghini and not driving it

This I can't agree with.
Because a Lamborghini performs nothing like my Oldsmobile. Comparing that complex machine to the types of vehicles most of us drive is futile. That, and cars need to be driven or they fall apart.
That Castello however, will not perform any differently than any other well made pipe. It can't. There's just no way to engineer it to be that superior. It's too simple a tool.

It is fun talking about it though.

Cheers, Chris. :cheers: