For some the building of your own story around a specific pipe is what keeps you from buying previously owned pipes. I too enjoy that. I like to buy a new pipe and christen it with my own choice of tobacco. I like the virgin first smoke in a new piece of briar. I love building the stories of when and how and with whom I smoked the pipe. I love thinking through why I purchased this one pipe and what it was that drew me to it. The events and the place add dimensions to the smoke for me. It is not just a disconnected piece of wood for me. It comes dressed in a story.

The same can be said of an estate pipe. The reason I buy estates is not just the good deal on old briar but because of the stories associated with them. In my mind is the place and the time I found the old pipe. I remember what drew me to it and where I was when I bought it. I remember who was with me and what we were doing. Then I try to research out as much info as I can on a given pipe. That may be some data on a previous owner, or maybe just a time period. Then I use my imagination to help me put the pipe in its time and in the hands of the person who bought it. To this data, this story I add my own new stories. I join a line of folks who have held this pipe and cherished it over the years and know full well that someone will follow me in that line. I wish at times that I could be a bug on the wall and listen to the full stories of the folks who smoked the pipe before me. I wish also that I could jump ahead and give that info to the person who gets the pipe from me... That to me is the joy of the old pipe. The hunt is good, the resurrection of old briar is good, the rekindling of tobacco in the old bowl is good, the patina and feel of old wood is good, but the story of the pipe is the mystery that grabs me.

For instance one of the old ones I got is an Altesse Genuine Briar (with a real amber stem). I know the pipe comes from the era of the 30's. It rests in a snake skin case that is in pretty good shape. The pipe bowl is out of round yet the overall care taken of this pipe speaks a wealth to me. It's previous owner loved this pipe. It is well smoked and well cared for. When I bought it from the antique dealer it still had a bowl load of tobacco in it. It was unsmoked tobacco so I imagine the owner loaded the bowl and somehow never got back to it. His heirs sold the pipe to a traveling antique dealer who sold it to the one I bought it from. No where in the process did the bowl get dumped. It was hardened and dried out tobacco to be sure... but what must have happened to that old fellow who cherished this pipe that he did not light that bowl?? Makes me wonder. So when I cleaned it up and reloaded the bowl I raised it in his honour and said cheers old fellow. Here's to the bowl you did not get to finish!! Enjoy the smell of your pipe as the smoke wafts your direction.

.... I know this sounds cheesy but hey... cheesy is my prerogative! Just an example of what draws me to preowned briar! Here's to your pipes! Cheers