Musings on a new Peterson...

I just received a SH Professor in the "new" Heritage finish. I'd been hearing about this finish and also kind of wanting a Professor shape so I decided to give it a try. I can see why Peterson loves it; you can't see the grain at all so they can pass along most anything! It's a deep, DEEP cherry finish, almost black. I like the Professor shape but I haven't decided if I like the Heritage or if I'll keep the pipe; wondered if anyone else has had any experience with the Heritage finish?

I think you hit the nail on the head. No telling what’s under that Heritage finish. Peterson still makes some outstanding pipes, but it’s going to be in the Natural, Terracotta, or PSB variations.

A little help…

Yeah, I looked at Peterson's site, and I guarantee that the pipe I received looks nothing like those. It may as well be ebony! Not sure it will show on the poor cell phone photo, but there is no visible grain at all; it may as well have been made out of a chunk of #2 lumber. I have emailed Smoking Pipes and asked if they're all like the one I received. If so I'm probably not interested. In fact, looking at it now, I'm wondering if I received an ebony pipe by mistake, though I've never seen one.

Certainly looks like an ebony.

Smoking Pipes says the Standard Dark Smooth Heritage Finish and the Heritage Finish are totally different, and that the SH Heritage pipes do vary, but while they are not as dark as ebony they are still very dark. This one's going back. I may have talked myself out of a new pipe anyway, but if not I'm gonna hold out for a Professor in another finish. I like sandblasts and I have several sandblast Petes but really didn't want another, but I may consider one. The current Pete rustication doesn't appeal to me. Thanks for the input...

What we are witnessing is Laudisi’s takeover of Peterson. In order to keep up with demand, they use more inferior briar which is used with the Heritage and Rusticated models. The good briar is used in the more expensive pipes. Even the loyal Pete Geeks on Petersons Pipe Notes have commented on the lack of quality with the Heritage stain. They refer to the rusticated pipes as pine cones.

Sturdy Papa 359 said:

... They refer to the rusticated pipes as pine cones.

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Love it!

Yeah…that was no Heritage finish.

I've taken a bit of interest in a Peterson, but think it will have to be an older system pipe from ebay.

Swede said:

I've taken a bit of interest in a Peterson, but think it will have to be an older system pipe from ebay.

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Try to find a system B42. I have 2 and they are both great smokes.

I bought my first Peterson around 1970, an XL307 System. Since then I've bought several dozen more, about half new and half estate pipes. There are currently 25 in the rack; five are system pipes. I've only ever turned loose of a few; one was a duplicate I got in a package deal, and a few were just too small for me. I have to say, this is the first time I've been disappointed. All have smoked well, and all have looked just fine until this one. It's a shame; it doesn't even look like stain, it's like they just painted the thing. Just being stamped Peterson isn't enough for me, and I think it'll hurt the brand in the long run. Dropped it in the mail today.

I've only had one bad Pete, a Jeckel and Hyde. It had a hot spot that I was afraid would burn out. Fortunately Iwan Reiss took it back for store credit. Other than that mine are all good smokes.

The ongoing saga: I emailed Peterson and asked them about the finishes. The first response was that all the Heritage finished should look alike, so I sent the pic of the Standard System Heritage above, and the pic of the Professor I received pointing out that they are nothing alike. They then sent me a link to a pic of a pipe that looked very much like the one I got, and nothing like the System Standards above. The excuse they provided is that each pipe is individually stained resulting in some variation, to which I called BS. I pointed out that one is a lovely translucent deep mahogany color while the other is completely opaque and the color of barnyard mud, and that I doubted that "individual staining" could make that much difference. No reply yet, and if I get one at all I expect some sort of canned customer servicespeak like, "we are sorry you are disappointed in our product and hope you will consider us in the future" blah blah blah. I know I should just drop it, but...

I have three Terracotta Petes. All of them were made in the last four-five years. They are, finish-wise, what I expect out them, but notice how much darker the most recent one is, which is the 4AB.

Jim, I'd be fine with any of those, and I'd say they support the idea of "individual staining. But at least you can see some grain, not like the Rust-Oleum finish I got

Idlefellow said:

Jim, I'd be fine with any of those, and I'd say they support the idea of "individual staining. But at least you can see some grain, not like the Rust-Oleum finish I got

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Right. You got an Ebony pipe instead. If you haven't smoked it, I suggest that you ask for a return shipping label and wait until you can get what you really want.

JimInks said:

Right. You got an Ebony pipe instead. If you haven't smoked it, I suggest that you ask for a return shipping label and wait until you can get what you really want.

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Not according to Smoking Pipes or Peterson; not an ebony. I got nowhere with Smoking Pipes; I was hoping they'd take it upon themselves to look at some others in stock to see if they were the same or if this'n was an anomaly, but no dice. After a few back-and-forths with Peterson I got this reply this AM:

I had a chat with our factory people to better address your doubts.

As we said, manual skills play a role in this, but the actual finish has evolved over time from a brighter color like the one in the System Standard ad to the present darker shade. Also, upon checking the pictures of the pipe you bought on Smokingpipes.com, we agreed that the specific pipe needed to be buffed more to get the color out more clearly.

I've already returned the pipe and received a refund, but I forwarded Peterson response to Smoking Pipes and asked for a refund of my $11.15 to return it to them, since by Peterson's admission it was defective. We'll see...

Yeah, I know: I should have bigger things to concern myself with. Principle and all that.

Idlefellow said:

Not according to Smoking Pipes or Peterson; not an ebony. I got nowhere with Smoking Pipes; I was hoping they'd take it upon themselves to look at some others in stock to see if they were the same or if this'n was an anomaly, but no dice. After a few back-and-forths with Peterson I got this reply this AM:

I had a chat with our factory people to better address your doubts.

As we said, manual skills play a role in this, but the actual finish has evolved over time from a brighter color like the one in the System Standard ad to the present darker shade. Also, upon checking the pictures of the pipe you bought on Smokingpipes.com, we agreed that the specific pipe needed to be buffed more to get the color out more clearly.

I've already returned the pipe and received a refund, but I forwarded Peterson response to Smoking Pipes and asked for a refund of my $11.15 to return it to them, since by Peterson's admission it was defective. We'll see...

Yeah, I know: I should have bigger things to concern myself with. Principle and all that.

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You handled this well, and lived up to your principles. That's something to take deserved pride in.

Thank Jim; appreciate it. I did receive a response from Smoking Pipes that they will apply my shipping amount as a house credit toward future orders. I really feel that it should be refunded to my credit card, as a house credit benefits them as much or more than it does me, but I guess I'll take what I can get. In the meantime I have ordered a Professor in dark finish from Harrison Simmonds, a dealer in the UK I've bought from before with good results. I would have preferred a different finish as I already have 3-4 in the dark and kinda wanted something different, but it was all I could find available except rusticated or sandblasted which I didn't want on this particular shape, and a couple in smooth on ebay which were overpriced in my opinion, or at least more than I was willing to pay. Hopefully this ends the saga!