What is your most expensive pipe ,why'd you buy it & do you regret it?

[shaintiques]

The most expensive pipe I've bought is a Tom Richard Danish style egg. I bought it with insurance money from my stolen pipes. I love this shape and it was on sale at the Briary. It was $170 off the price they were asking. I looked at every pipe in the shop and this one just called to me. I have always wanted a pipe like this but they are always out of my price range. I love it. It is perfect. Tom is a true craftsman and it smokes beautifully.

 

[pipedreamer]

Most of my pipes are hand made. The reason is nothing has been forgotten in which to transport me to a place I love and cherish. With a great pipe, the experience is predictable. With a hand crafted pipe, the experience is beyond words, and I appreciate the silence.

 

[andystewart]

My most expensive pipe is the Dunhill Bruyere which I gave $650 for and which was the subject of my first ever post on PM.com - http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/omg-i-finally-did-it-i-bought-a-dunhill.
I love this pipe but it never leaves the house and - to be honest - burns hot whatever I put in it and however I smoke it. As I've said before on here, it's towards the bottom of my top 10 smokers - behind my Stanwells, a Savinelli, and a couple of cobs. But it's a Dunhill and the whole package of history, quality, and luxury gives me a buzz. I suppose that's the definition of 'brand'. That probably makes me shallow, but there it is.
Andy

 

[nkourilo]

Andy,

That's interesting. I went back and read your posts from when you got the pipe. It is a beautiful pipe & it is a dunhill but the smoking experience you first shared vs now is a contrast. I had to chuckle a bit when I read "behind my Stanwells, a Savinelli and a couple of cobs"

 

[andystewart]

LOL I know! I was still breaking it in then and was waiting to get it into it's stride. Don't get me wrong, my Dunhill is a great pipe and I enjoy smoking it, but it's not my best. I also think I've moved to preferring the smaller Danish shapes and constructions. Or maybe I'm just fickle!
Andy

 

[zekest]

Dottiewarden if pipe smoking is about "the pleasure of smoking tobacco" how would a $700 dunhill give you more pleasure than a Pete, sav or chacom?

All of my pipes are under $175 (my personal absolute price point ceiling). I would not consider spending $175 or more because I do not personally believe that pipes above the $175 price point would enhance my smoking experience, and do not want to try/experiment to even find out.
That said, I would purchase an estate Peterson Sherlock Holmes if it was in perfect condition and under $175. Right now I collect the Peterson Kinsale line of S. H. look-a likes because they are in my comfortable price point range.

 

[portascat]

Most of my pipes are sub $100. My woman purchased me a nice Sav, at a B&M, for around the $120 mark here a week or so ago.
Got a Pete, 3 GBD's, a Comoys, a Kaywoodie from 1936 (that cost me $15 on Ebay) and none of that bunch cost me much.
I actually want to go into a pipe shop one day, and it has to be a pipe shop, and lay down $500-$600 on a pipe of some type. Just because. But that day isn't coming until I do a whole lot of things of a much higher priority.

 

[skapunk1]

Mine was $240 on a 1971 Dunhill shell panel pipe. Do I regret it? Not really, it smokes great. It does have a replacement stem though.
Now my last post about the 1963 Dunhill is where I turned myself around and won't pay that much for a Dunhill again, it cost me $80, I just had to put some restoration effort into it.
I actually revisited the site where I bought that one and snatched thier last Dunhill up for another $80. Lets see what I can do with this one.
If it doesnt suit, it may end up on here for sale, after restoring.

 

[bulletsnbriars]

To me this question is asked in every artform and hobby. Why buy a Fender American Deluxe five string bass for $1500 when my used $200 beat to crap Fender Standard j bass five string works? Why spring $2k on a Sig Sauer pistol when a used Glock will be reliable and run you $200-$350? The answer? You always get what you pay for. If you dont see the use of a $500-$1000 pipe, dont do it. But I've never regretted the extra money on anything. Cars, instruments, guns, video game consoles... I have several cobs, two Peterson briars, and a Karl Erik freehand. The freehand was cheaper because I got it estate, but it smokes like a dream and I would gladly pay full price, which I believe is at least $200+, twice the price of my Petes. I admittedly havent purchased any really spendy pipes, but if they smoke half as good as the Karl Erik, theyd be worth it. The higher the price the longer shell last and the better shell smoke, becoming a treasure to pass down to children or other pipers. Serious pipers need serious tools. Pipes are art, souveneirs, mementos. Few things become a part of their owner like they do.
Just my rookie two cents. I'll let the experts talk now. ::

 

[fishnbanjo]

Most expensive was my Sixten Ivarsson craggy bowl Prince with bamboo shaft. It not only looks beautiful to me, it weighs hardly anything and smokes like a dream, I never tire of looking at it or smoking it.

 

[curl]

I'm an FNG to pipe smoking. The first good pipe I purchased was the ginger's favorite cause I read that a longer stem equaled a cooler smoke; I paid too much for it according to my internet searches. Then after looking at this site's image of pipe shapes, I looked the world over for an author pipe...found a brebbia on a Hungarian site for low price.
Then I found this pipe....

on smoking pipes, a Castello, which ain't cheap. I couldn't find this shape from any other pipe maker, so I took the plunge. Fortunately and as expected, it smokes like a champ.
I don't anticipate spending that kind of money as I continue to add other pipe shapes to my collection.

 

[sablebrush52]

You always get what you pay for.

I agree with that statement on its face. But what what I get for what I paid may still not be a good value, or remotely worth the expense.
If you're happy with your purchase then enough said. If you're not happy then all the rationalizations in the known universe will not make a difference.
If I want to own a Bo Hordh, then I'll need to shell out the $8000 and more to own one. I get what I paid for. That doesn't necessarily translate to ten times the pipe compared to a JD Cooke. But that doesn't matter if what I want to own is a Nordh. If I want to own a quality pipe, regardless of Brand, then I'll still get what I pay for, whatever that is. I just won't be shelling out a high four figures to do that.

 

[pruss]

My most expensive pipe, to date, is this blasted bent Rhodesian from Rad Davis. I bought it because it is quintessential Rad, and in a shape I collect. It's also huge enough for me to enjoy for a couple of hours around the camp fire. I paid just under $500 for this pipe, and I'm certain I'll pay that much for a pipe again.

-- Pat

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I think you need to put everything into perspective and understand the human mind and appreciate human differences.
We could be having this same conversation about houses, cars, jewellery, art, cuisine or about 2 million other things.
I don't understand elaborate weddings. I have friends who have spent $50k on a wedding ring, followed by $80k weddings that included elaborate floral displays, fireworks, full orchestras, and a troop of midgets to carry in the ring and release the doves.
I just don't understand why anyone would pay that for a ring and a wedding. Luckily, my wife doesn't understand it either. Whew. We had a very small wedding and a simple but cost effective ring and simply didn't invite all the annoying relatives that are outliers on the family tree and whom we would probably never see again, knock on wood. There were no midgets. No doves. No violins. We only invited my mother-in-law because my wife insisted (ok, I exaggerate - slightly).
Any person who is even remotely logical will tell you that spending tens of thousands of dollars on a wedding is, in objective economic terms, a completely irrational thing to do. But the folks who do spend gobs of money on a ring and a wedding will tell you that they are deriving pleasure from doing so that dwarfs the monetary outlay.
Every person ascribes a value to each dollar they have, and we only choose to spend it when the utility of what we are purchasing (measured in our own subjective terms) exceeds the utility to us (again, measured in our own subjective terms) of keeping that dollar. This calculation is highly personal and depends on the value each of us ascribes to various goods and services as compared to the value each of us places on keeping our money in our pocket.
So really, a pipe is just a wedding in disguise.

 

[nkourilo]

No midgets? Sounds like a shitty wedding.

 

[pruss]

I don't understand elaborate weddings. I have friends who have spent $50k on a wedding ring, followed by $80k weddings that included elaborate floral displays, fireworks, full orchestras, and a troop of midgets to carry in the ring and release the doves.

I'd draw the line at the doves...
My pipe is a car that could be a wedding, or a rifle. It has function, and form, and with an appropriate investment of skill, talent, time, labour and passion is extracted into being by a crafts person. I am happy when I find my next wonderful pipe, whether it rises from layers of cake, oxidation and oil after an investment of cents, or whether I lay down a wad of hard earned Benjamins. My cash, my hobby, my enjoyment... It is pretty righteous that I get to define those things.
... Ok. Who's kidding whom? I'd have the doves.
-- Pat

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have just started collecting artisan made pipes. As I have an established rotation of very nice pipes, now I just want pipes that appeal to me aesthetically. This was the first in that collection, a Becker at $650. I'm no rich man by any means, but I decided to just set back PAD money for six months to save up to get this beauty. It was at The Briary, and I enjoyed visiting with it when I would go to hang out in their lounge. When I finally got it out of layaway, I have enjoyed it at least once a day ever since, sometimes three. It has a very deceptively large chamber for the design, and tapers down to a tight drastic funnel shape in the chamber, which stoves your tobacco very well as you smoke.

No, I am not disappointed at all. Most of my pipes are for clenching and forgetting about as I smoke while doing other things. This one is for meditating on the process for me. It keeps my mind on what I am doing, because it is a beauty to behold in my eyes and hand while I smoke. I have dedicated this one to VaBurPer blends like Haddos delight and Marlin Flake. It is a remarkable companion to spend a late afternoon smoking with.
Take my dogs and my daughters (if you can), but you'll never get this pipes away from me. :wink:

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Sorry, I meant vertically challenged.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

No shit?
Butterflies?
Real fricken butterflies?
I would have dropped a stack of C-notes for that.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

What is that large animal with the colourful skin in the second row? If that is a butterfly, it must be the largest and most colourful one known to man, in spite of the balding crania. Crikey, just gorgeous.