Do you have any pipes you only look at, but never smoke?

I have pipes I rarely smoke for various reasons, but I don't have any I don't smoke because I just want them to stay unsmoked. Everything I own is fair game for the lighter.

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I had one, a Savinelli Mon Ami. A very rare and beautiful pipe. I sold it to a member here who said he would smoke it. Then he got it in his hands and couldn't bring himself to do it. It's amazing how beautiful a simple billiard can be. Grain that hypnotizes you. A perfect simple stem that you can't imagine marking with a tooth.

Not in my collection any more, but still unsmoked. 

I have some Austrian Lap pipes that I rarely smoke, because regularly smoking would require regular cleaning.

I bought two MM Reverse Calabash cobs, one remains unsmoked.
I have a pair of Tonni Nielsen bent Dublin pipes with wooden windcaps, one is unsmoked.

A pretty cool “Townsman” Amboseli Block Meerschaum made by Tanganyikan Pipe Company… I suppose that I have never smoked that one because the shading is so cool on it, and once I start smoking it… it will never look as nice… plus it has the box, and all of the literature even the note in the bowl.

I got one I don't smoke. Just because the stem has some mild oxidation on it and I just haven't cleaned it yet as I don't have magic eraser/micro mesh pads

Oh yeah, I have a Texaco gimme pipe that is unsmoked because I bought 2 because I wanted them. I probably have a few more, come to think about it. A couple of meers that would just be a bad smoke from looking at the internal engineering. 90% of Meers aren't fit to smoke. Souvenirs of Turkey, basically. And a couple of Chinese pipes, probably from the 60s, that are inlaid with mother of pearl birds and flowers, but I don't think they were ever intended to be smoked. Probably a few more that don't come to mind, but not many that would be decent smokers.

Some people buy gas station/head shop quality meerschaums and then think all meerschaums are bad.

Yep. It's in good hands and sleeps with Jess Chonoswitsch pipes. You should see it in person.

I wasn’t attempting to talk down to you. For many years I have seen people judge all meerschaum pipes by their experiences with poorer quality pipes or lack of experience with selecting them. The same can be done with briars although you do stand a chance of getting a better smoker in the cheaper ones, largely for the reason you mentioned, they often aren’t made by pipe smokers in the lower price range. I’ve also encountered high end briars that don’t smoke very well. I’m not personally familiar with Altinoc pipes, but for new pipes, I have had 100% success with IMP, Star, Jyeshta (who is a pipe smoker and has made a couple of fantastic custom pipes for me that smoke as good as a pipe can, perfection in the internal design. KOC and others. Hands down for smoking quality in new pipes for as little as $200 would be blackmeerschaum.com. The owner is an avid pipe smoker and he is meticulous about the smoking quality of his pipes and he pioneered improvements to stem connections that are first rate. Cheap crappy meerschaum pipes are the equivalent of those cheap plastic lined pipes made in china that I see a lot.

The ones I have, and many were expensive from reputable carvers, could be easily fixed if I felt like it. I just don't think that the ones I have that are good smokers are nearly as good as an average briar. The draft holes are easy to fix, but the biggest issue are the stems. It would cost more than they are worth to send them out for decent stems.

That's what I need to do with mine. They were a learning experience. I'll probably keep the Petersen African Meer, but the rest will go for zero starting and reasonable shipping. Even my best one doesn’t hold a candle to the average briar. The Petersen is from the Fred Bass estate. Maybe I should sell it too as he was partly responsible for my starting down that road.

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