WHY WOULD ANYONE PAY $500 OR MORE FOR THIS?

[RDPipes]

My further .02 -- Why is it priced at $500? I notice that many of Mumert's pipes fall in the $450-$600 range, so, given the imprecise nature of pricing, this one was tagged at five bills. If asked why this design, I can imagine him replying, "I can do a mean apple, billiard and dublin. Sometimes the ceative spirit moves me to extend the boundaries. Take it or leave it."  Why would anyone buy it? Maybe the buyer is oversupplied with billiards and discretionary income etc.  Personally, I look at that pipe and see a mighty nice slightly bent blast bulldog hidden in there. But the world is filled with blast bulldogs. I'd say this pipe is too heavy for clenching and has no love handles to expedite holding. I liked the poster's comment above that Mumert has a knack for carving a distinctive pipe that makes his creative experiments instantly recognizable, which is both desirable and difficult to achieve for a carver. I like his blast apple that leads his offerings in the Smoking Pipes site. OK, so I'm a traditionalist. So shoot me.

Get in line.

 

[juanmedusa]

Now that we're saying Werner Mummert I will show you one of his pipes I really liked. Past tense because it's already sold from smoking pipes.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/werner-mummert/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=120603

I liked this one alot.

......and so do I  

Do you know how much it was sold for please?

Sorry, I missed this. Also sadly, I don't recall. But I really did drool over that one.

 

[Briarbabe]

The words "butt ugly" came to mind when I looked at it, but what do I know.

 

[monbla256]

The words "butt ugly" came to mind when I looked at it, but what do I know.

Well put Babe, well put !!  :twisted: :twisted: 

 

[MisterE]

Seems to me it would be like having a coke can in front of my face, while smoking it.

Yeah. My days of smoking things out of coke cans ended loooong ago.  :drunken: 

 

[Idlefellow]

I'd call it "The Wine Cork" pipe.

 

[gravel]

Philistines. $500 is cheap.

 

[SpeedyPete]

Philistines. $500 is cheap.

Oh well, you might be right. There's enough material to convert it into two pipes @ $250 a piece.  :twisted: 

 

[Retrogasm]

But, there are many pipes out there that are beautiful works of art that will provide the smoker with the same smoking properties as this one. Why would I want something that looks like a empty roll of toilet paper sticking out from my face that cost me $500 or more?   

I think you're reinforcing the point. Why would anyone buy a Picasso when there are plenty of other painters out there whos work actually look like their subject matter? It's a different aesthetic. The question is though, are pipe makers really becoming artists, is there value in using piping to express an idea or an ideal?

It seems that pipe smokers as a group have already accepted the notion that pipes don't necessarily have to be practical to be worth their price. Indeed the upper segments of the market seem to revolve entirely around looks with giant unwieldly blobs of briar fetching top dollar.

As someone that's very new to the pipe world I often have the same reaction that you guys seem to have to this pipe, but towards the forms and freeforms of the established masters.

Personally I wouldn't be caught dead with that pipe unless it was the murder weapon. I think there's a difference between an artist, and artistry in designing an object. I think I might be in the minority though in that I don't think he's alone in that among his peers.