Highgrade Grading

[Dock]

Let me tell you folks a story:

Several years ago a friend of mine arrived at the Chicagoland pipe show early on Thursday. He was walking around the resort and saw a pipe maker he knew sitting at a table loaded with pipes with another man in an empty ballroom. This man makes incredibly expensive pipes! As he knew him, my friend went in to say hello. The carver was handing the pipes to the other man while he stamped them. They were grading the pipes right there on the spot! That looks like a "so and so" grade and this looks like a "something or another" grade....

The carver who was noticeably embarrassed promptly escorted my friend from the room and closed the door...

 

[LL]

Maybe I'm missing something... how else did you think they did it?

Or are you referring to how production steps were still happening at the last minute?

 

[Dock]

Maybe I'm missing something... how else did you think they did it?

Or are you referring to how production steps were still happening at the last minute?

My point was that very little thought was actually going into the grading of the pipes! It was almost like an afterthought to the carver. That seems funny considering how much money one stamp can mean over another :lol:

 

[LL]

Maybe I'm missing something... how else did you think they did it?

Or are you referring to how production steps were still happening at the last minute?

My point was that very little thought was actually going into the grading of the pipes! It was almost like an afterthought to the carver. That seems funny considering how much money one stamp can mean over another :lol:

Hm. I don't think that doing it quickly necessarily means little thought. How long do you have to examine a Dunhill (a brand I know you are familiar with) to mentally rate it on a 1 to 10 scale? Meaning as a collector. Dunhill doesn't grade its regular lines, of course, be WE do every time we see one, right? Only takes a few seconds.

 

[Dock]

Maybe I'm missing something... how else did you think they did it?

Or are you referring to how production steps were still happening at the last minute?

My point was that very little thought was actually going into the grading of the pipes! It was almost like an afterthought to the carver. That seems funny considering how much money one stamp can mean over another :lol:

Hm. I don't think that doing it quickly necessarily means little thought. How long do you have to examine a Dunhill (a brand I know you are familiar with) to mentally rate it on a 1 to 10 scale? Meaning as a collector. Dunhill doesn't grade its regular lines, of course, be WE do every time we see one, right? Only takes a few seconds.

I think that some folks would feel somewhat slighted if they knew the "Spidergradewambamamama Straightgrain A " that they just paid $1,300.00 for had been stamped with it's grade the morning of the show.Folks like to feel that their "Spidergradewambamamama Straightgrain A" had been a "Spidergradewambamamama Straightgrain A" all along. I think knowing how the pipes are graded in such an informal manner just takes a little shine off the old apple.

I'm not sure that I did a good job articulating what I was trying to say! I'm such a better talker than typer!

 

[Rad Davis]

I think I know what you're saying Dock. Do you think it gives the appearance of the maker just picking a grade out of the air at the last minute?

The truth is, there is no "formal" grading ever done that I know of. The maker looks at his pipe and grades it. That's pretty much it. Makers know their work well enough that they can grade pipes pretty quickly.

At my second Chicago show, I saw a very well known Danish carver across the aisle from me on Saturday morning taking each of his pipes out of a case, looking at it for a few seconds, and putting a price on it. Not grading, but pretty much the same thing.

Once there's a system in place, it really takes almost no time at all.

Rad

 

[Dock]

I think I know what you're saying Dock. Do you think it gives the appearance of the maker just picking a grade out of the air at the last minute?

The truth is, there is no "formal" grading ever done that I know of. The maker looks at his pipe and grades it. That's pretty much it. Makers know their work well enough that they can grade pipes pretty quickly.

At my second Chicago show, I saw a very well known Danish carver across the aisle from me on Saturday morning taking each of his pipes out of a case, looking at it for a few seconds, and putting a price on it. Not grading, but pretty much the same thing.

Once there's a system in place, it really takes almost no time at all.

Rad

Rad understands me even if you other folks don't! :lol: That's just waht I was trying to say though in a far less articulate manner!

 

[howellhandmade]

I agree with Rad, the quickness doesn't mean a lack of care. You don't see the years of experience, you don't see the mental images of thousands of pipes in the carver's brain, not to mention that he actually made the pipe and remembers it. It's his area of expertise. We all have such areas, where we can make a determination in a fraction of the time it takes someone not familiar with the subject. A mechanic can know what's wrong with a car in seconds, a doctor can make a diagnosis, an art expert can identify a painting.

As for grading being done at the show, it makes sense. He did it there because he could, whereas actually making the pipes required his equipment at home.

Jack

 

[Dock]

I agree with Rad, the quickness doesn't mean a lack of care. You don't see the years of experience, you don't see the mental images of thousands of pipes in the carver's brain, not to mention that he actually made the pipe and remembers it. It's his area of expertise. We all have such areas, where we can make a determination in a fraction of the time it takes someone not familiar with the subject. A mechanic can know what's wrong with a car in seconds, a doctor can make a diagnosis, an art expert can identify a painting.

As for grading being done at the show, it makes sense. He did it there because he could, whereas actually making the pipes required his equipment at home.

Jack

This has turned into a very interesting thread. I hadn't really looked at this from the maker's point of view. It's great to hear comments on the subject from two of this country's premier pipe carvers. I gained a new perspective that I hadn't had previously...

 

[Puff Daddy]

I was wondering if maybe the carver was wanting to confer with a distributor or confidant before grading as maybe he felt a second opinion was warranted. Judging one's own work can be difficult, you either think it's wonderful or it's crap, but being impartial with yourself can be very difficult.