The Mill
May 20, 2013;
Before we tackle the issue of what makes
a pipe worth $1,000, or $750 or $2500 (or
more...gee I love when it's more) I need to
buy myself more time to come up with
some contrived answers for this spot to
help save my hash, so I'll be posting a
letter from a friend/customer below. He
has some insights, based on humbling
and pocket draining experience that might
be worth a read. I am not revealing his
name in the probably vain hope that he
will once again feel the need to spend
obsessive amounts of money on pipes
and those pipes he spends that money on
will be my pipes. Thus, no point in
alienating him, yet.
Marty
"When is a pipe worth a thousand
bananas, indeed! I noted some time ago
the Teddy Calabash was finally pried from
your long term storage. Mazel tov. I'm
thinking the $6500 Joura King may sprout
roots and grow into fresh briar before
your heirs return it to its consignor.
Jeepers creepers, Honest Marty. That's a
lot of cabbage for a wooden leaf
burner......... Lest you think I'm
merely some pot calling the kettle black, I
will confess that I have recently started to
rethink some of my pipe collecting habits.
The short history is that when I started
piping more seriously, maybe 10 or so
years ago, I started binge buying, largely
indiscriminately, and quickly amassed a
large hodge podge; mostly dreck. Then I
slowly became conscious of pipe quality,
but not without a dose of pipe snobbery,
as well. Then, I had to clamber after
some ultra high grades. Now I think I
have finally evolved a bit further, and I
suspect a bit more in keeping with some
of your sensibilities. Pipes are first and
foremost for enjoying tobacco, and a
close second would be that a pipe should
satisfy some aesthetic sense in its owner.
Now we both know that this can be
readily accomplished over a broad range
of prices from very modest to obscenely
expensive. Another possible
consideration is how important it may or
may not be for a collector to own pieces
that represent a certain rarity or cachet.
This is, perhaps, the area where things
are prone to descending into exaggerated
concerns with prestige and snobbery. I
suppose it must be in some measure
defined by one's own financial situation,
and at what point chasing the Joneses, or
one's own ego, starts to strain one's
budgetary sensibilities. I have certainly
fallen prey to some of this self-deception.
Over the last year, I have been
systematically divesting myself of a
number of Lars, Nanna, Teddy, Micke,
etc. pipes. Pipes that I rarely if ever
smoke, some pipes that simply don't wow
me, in spite of their proud pedigrees, and
some that I just don't enjoy smoking. I am
scaring myself by seeing how much
money I have raised, even knowing that
some of the pipes are being sold for
something less than I may have paid for
them. I still have way too many pipes.
And pipes that I will be weeding out of my
collection that include some that are
pricey and some that are not especially
expensive, but just sit collecting dust. I'm
hoping to have the prudence to maintain a
collection that only includes pipes that I
really and truly enjoy, and some may meet
or exceed your arbitrary $1000 threshold.
But I'd have to really love and enjoy them
to qualify them for retention; and pipes
that may have a particular sentimental
value as gifts or made by people with
whom I have developed a personal
connection making them valuable to me
along these particular merits.
Lastly, I think with a bit of maturity, I have
come to another epiphany: That my
appetites vastly exceed my means to
satisfy them, and include many tastes
outside of pipes.......and that are more
significant to me than pipes......So why do
I have so many f---ing pipes? And why
have I pissed away thousands of dollars
on these baubles? This concludes my
confession."
Signed, S.
P.S. Most recently posted were 4 pipes
for the Italian page...all large pieces.
They include 2 more Ardor Giants (both
bent...as per some requests), one Ser
Jacopo Maxima and one Maxima Maxima.
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