Prices start at around $200 and rise to $800 for the Gold versions. These special pipes, all of which are silver mounted, are rare and a limited number are available each year. Shapes can vary depending on availability of suitable raw materials”.
With the pipes being so big I would imagine they will not be to everyone’s taste. My own view is somewhat biased, the Darwins were probably tailor made with me in mind!! I find them brilliant smokers, the bowls never heat up, because they are so large and the shape is so very comfortable for longer periods of smoking. Personally I give them a slight edge over the Mark Twains in that department.
These large hand made pipes normally retail for around $200 $ 400 depending on shape and finish. Varying from Smooth, Sandblast and Rustic finishes and Straight Billiard and Bent shapes. The next series of photos (Photos 52 – 58) shows the progressive shine that the micromesh sanding pads bring to the surface of the vulcanite.
After hand buffing, I took the pipe to the buffing wheel and buffed it with White Diamond. The next series of photos shows the pipe after buffing with White Diamond (Photos 60 –65). I then cleaned out the shank and sump area to remove the tars and oils. I wanted to do this prior to heating the end of the band/cap with the heat gun. I have found that if I do not clean it prior to heating the oils and tars melt with the heat and make a huge mess of the work area. I used Everclear and cotton swabs to clean the shank and sump.
This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke andvirtually eliminates any chance of tongue-bite or bitterness. The second Peterson pipe that is up for restoration is a Deluxe 11S. As I did with the first pipe, I detail Mark’s comments below in italics and follow that with my own observations once the pipe arrived on my work table. Before I begin peterson pipes any restoration or refurbishing of a pipe I take time to look it over and get an idea of what the work will entail. I do a thorough analysis of the pipe to determine both the time it will take to restore it and what challenges I will face in the process. This old Peterson came with some interesting challenges on the stem and very few on the bowl.
Once it was dry I hand buffed it with a soft cotton cloth to give it an initial shine and to highlight any areas that had scratches that I needed to sand some more before buffing it on the buffer (Photo 59). I followed up the heating with the lighter by sanding the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. Sanding has a dual purpose – it removes the signs of the small dents and at the same time highlights the areas that will need to be addressed with other methods.
There were also some divots or missing parts of vulcanite on the top edge of the button and around the opening into the airway on the button. The next five photos show the finished pipe after several coats of carnauba wax and a buff with a clean flannel buffing pad on the buffer. The silver has a warm glow and the briar is clean and fresh looking. The top of the band on the shank is smooth with just a few small dents that could not be removed. It is polished but it is not flawless, it does show its age but it shows it well. Pipe #2.The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s Deluxe.
Around 1916, Peterson began stamping their pipes “Made in Ireland” in what is referred to as a block format. Peterson believed that a man’s smoking pipe was a signature piece of his individual style, and are still made with this idea in mind today. Friedrich and Heinrich Kapp, German immigrants to Ireland from Nuremberg, founded the famed Kapp Brothers store on Grafton Street, Dublin in 1865.
The pipes in this range are amongst the best and most select briars that Peterson produce. They vary in price from the Grafton, Rosslare Royal Irish and Silver Spigots starting at around $250. To the slightly more expensive peterson pipes Silver Caps and Lids, Plato, Royal Irish and Celtic Naturals and on up to $800 plus for Gold spigots. The ‘Original’ series was introduced piece meal, every 6 months a new shape until the 7 day set was complete.
The two most famous and popular issues probably being the System and the Classic shape pipes. All of the pipes in this group can be purchased for relatively little cost and probably accounts for the majority of Petersons world wide pipe sales. I have rarely seen this series of pipes for sale previously, it has been a complete mystery as to the quality of briar, finish and smoking qualities.