The high end collector who are they

[pipeguy]

We've all heard about the "high end collector" He is described as a phantom or a kind of pipe smoking
Boogeyman . He keeps pipemakers in business or can kill them by the thousands with fire from thereal eyes
And bolts of lightning from there arse. I think people with such power and influence should be identified and recognized. Can anyone out any of these members of the pipe smoking illuminati. Or should we just be afraid ?

[pipeguy]

Guys, I know I wrote this tounge and cheek but I'm serious who are these e people???
We all can't say we don't know who we make for.

[DocAitch]

I am too ignorant to know a high end collector if I tripped over him.
I did have the most satisfying experience, however.
I met up with Jason Thompson in the airport in Baltimore, and we sat in the boarding area showing off our creations. I purchased two of his pipes on the spot. Later at the show, I watched at least 20 people try to buy those pipes (we left them on display).
Alex Florov’s daughter even came by to sketch the beautiful olive wood bulldog, and the sandblast cutty got a lot of attention as well.
I guess that is a testament to my good taste.
DocAitch

[Sasquatch]

I'm not sure I understand the question.

What's "high end"? I smoke the living piss out of a few 400 dollar Castellos. Am I a high-end collector?

There's guys who buy pipes to look at, guys who buy them to smoke, guys who buy them to have a more expensive pipe than their neighbor. The idea that there's one type of person we can point to and call a high end collector (and assume that they share all kinds of traits with other high end collectors) is wrong.

I make the occasional high grade pipe. Legit. About 1 a year. Most of my sales are dead ordinary good quality pipes, around 300 bucks. (Is that high end?) People buy them because the smoke good and because frankly I have worked pretty hard to make a decent looking pipe.

The occasional wonder pipe that I produce, where I take ... maybe twice the amount of time to do... they do get snapped up, and I'm a little surprised. The triangle of buyers (cobs being the base and 22,000 dollar Nordh buyers being the top). But maybe there's as many buyers as pipes of any particular quality, a matching triangle, as it were.

Anyway, lots of these guys are regular joes who just want a nice pipe, it's important to them for any number of reasons.

[Massis]

The triangle of buyers (cobs being the base and 22,000 dollar Nordh buyers being the top). But maybe there's as many buyers as pipes of any particular quality, a matching triangle, as it were.

Your triangle is too small
I know for a fact that there's 50,000+ dollar Teddy Knudsen pipes being sold And I was lucky enough to see 2 of them in person last year in his home.

[pipeguy]

Sas, you bring up a great point the phrase
High end collector needs to be defined. And a dollar
Figure has to be attached to qualify it I've would consider
Low 4 to high 5 figures high end but it is relative We have been told what the "high end"collector looks for that in fact gives him a face and therefore a name. There must be someone judging the standard in which we make are pipes.

[Sasquatch]

Put it this way, when a guy comes on this board, and posts his first pipe, it LOOKS like a first pipe, there's all kinds of blobby bits and extra material.

After 10 or 20 or 50 pipes, a guy is making better pipes in recognizeable ways.

A 500 dollar pipe is also better in recognizeable, definable ways. Mostly. There's a few oddball pieces, or pieces that a newbie sells to his neighbor for 500 bucks, but by and large, these are pipes that are objectively better in terms of cut, proportion, finish, materials... all of it. The fact that it's a sliding scale does not mean that there are no clear cut examples on the scale.

[pipeguy]

Ok let's try this Does anybody know a person who purchased or smokes a $ 10,000+ pipe
Who are they what's the back ground with pipes or is it they are insanely wealthy?

[mightysmurf8201]

Ok let's try this Does anybody know a person who purchased or smokes a $ 10,000+ pipe
Who are they what's the back ground with pipes or is it they are insanely wealthy?

I think it might be difficult to get a direct answer on this. Some collectors are open about what they own and buy. Some not so much. Others, it might depend on who’s asking.

[dogcatcher]

The high end collectors are the unknowns. They try to spend money without letting you know who they are, to keep from being hassled by the unknown makers.

[pipeguy]

Oh, there known to someone. You don't get to spend 10 large on a pipe and stay unknown

[LatakiaLover]

Oh, there known to someone. You don't get to spend 10 large on a pipe and stay unknown

The reason Sotheby's and Christies don't handle estate pipes is because it isn't worth it to them. The seller's fees would be fractions of a cent compared to spending their time auctioning fine art, watches, antique furniture, and so forth.

In short, "10 large" is what the truly wealthy spend for a restaurant meal in London on auction day, after having bought a George Daniels wristwatch for 1.5 million.

You're overthinking this "who are they?" question, I think. Anyone who can afford a decent motorcycle would have been able to own Lars Ivarsson's last-ever pipe at Chicago last week, which sold for 23K, and we all know lots of motorcycle enthusiasts.