What constitutes a high grade pipe?

[Sasquatch]

I agree with all that.

I'd just add that there's "high grade" rustication and "sundeck" rustication. Check out a Castello Sea Rock vs a Peterson Kinsale and there's a world of difference between carving an intricate texture and buffing it just smooth enough vs tapping a piece with a dremel 80 times and calling it done.

 

[KevinM]

I agree with all that.  

I'd just add that there's "high grade" rustication and "sundeck" rustication.  Check out a Castello Sea Rock vs a Peterson Kinsale and there's a world of difference between carving an intricate texture and buffing it just smooth enough vs tapping a piece with a dremel 80 times and calling it done.  

‘Tis true, ‘tis pity, and pity ‘tis, ‘tis true.

 

[Richard Burley]

This sounds simplistic, but with me, it's the grain. Workmanship, materials, engineering, and artistry are a given. Only a pipe with those attributes plus superior grain is a "high-grade." For example, I don't consider most Castellos to be "high grade" when the grain is pedestrian, which is usually the case. It's kind of a I-know-it-when-I-see-it thing. A pipe that for lack of a better term is a true high-grade makes me drool. They tend to be double the price of the same pipe with everyday grain. I own exactly none.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I can't touch this question with a ten-foot pole. I have no idea how to really answer this with any clarity or consistency. There's so much context here. I consider(ed) Ascorti to be high-grade pipes when I was paying $35 for the things. I reckon price has to play some part in it now, but in years' past, it didn't. Times, they have a-changed.

 

[Richard Burley]

I can't touch this question with a ten-foot pole.  I have no idea how to really answer this with any clarity or consistency.  There's so much context here.  I consider(ed) Ascorti to be high-grade pipes when I was paying $35 for the things.  I reckon price has to play some part in it now, but in years' past, it didn't.  Times, they have a-changed.

Smart man. It's a non-objective term. Feel free to add your hallucinations just as I have. :lol:

 

[KevinM]

I can't touch this question with a ten-foot pole.  I have no idea how to really answer this with any clarity or consistency.  There's so much context here.  I consider(ed) Ascorti to be high-grade pipes when I was paying $35 for the things.  I reckon price has to play some part in it now, but in years' past, it didn't.  Times, they have a-changed.

At one time, the answer to the “high-grade” question would have been, “Charatan,” They were well-made, expensive and the first pipe to beak the $100 barrier. Whew! $100! There is a way to objectively define what the term means at this point in time — Look at X-number of instances in which the term is used, spoken and/or written. Then deductively put together a definition. We’d likely find the use of the phrase varied among makers, users, collectors ... And words change meaning over time. They’re not static. But that’s typical for the process. As Elvis said, “They said you was high class, but that was just a lie.”

 

[JensDK]

I can't touch this question with a ten-foot pole.  I have no idea how to really answer this with any clarity or consistency.  There's so much context here.  I consider(ed) Ascorti to be high-grade pipes when I was paying $35 for the things.  I reckon price has to play some part in it now, but in years' past, it didn't.  Times, they have a-changed.

I agree with you. Of course you can objectively make out criteria for high-end pipes, and surely I can appreciate a piece of fine craftmanship. But when it comes to smoking, high-end isn't always better than low-end. Years ago I owned a beautiful rusticated Winsløw. It was a real beauty, but it felt heavy and unbalanced, and the conic bowl walls made it impossible to get a good taste.
On the other end of the scale I recently bought a low-end estate pipe from Comoy's Everyman line. I barely feel it when holding it between my teeth, and I've rarely ever tasted a better mixture than in this pipe.

 

[monbla256]

It's the three P's
* PRICE
* PRICE
* PRICE
Always has been, always will! :twisted:

 

[denholrl]

For me, a high grade pipe must be made from exquisite briar and be designed so that all the lines flow uninterrupted and make "sense" to the eye. In my experience, most pipes that I would call high grade are hand carved and are one-of-a-kind.

Of course another way to talk about high grade is in reference to the highest grade (most expensive grade) made and labeled by a company, i.e., Dunhill DR or Collector series, Celius King, Peterson Supreme. Comoy's Specimen Straight Grain, etc.