wessex any good?

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i.keenum

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I see all these wessex pipes on ebay. They seem to be great looking pipes for under 80 bucks, looks to be my next purchase. They are really catching my eye and in a week or so i get my tax returns. So whats the opinion on these guys?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wessex-603-Rusticated-Smooth-Rim-w-wood-grain-stem-/230732144995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b8b52163

http://www.ebay.com/itm/84430-Wessex-Cumberland-9mm-flter-briar-pipe-Poker-tanshell-Denicotea-smoker-/270860698937?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f108e4539
 
I've never smoked one, but have heard from experienced pipers that they are a bargain and very good smokers. I have seen displays of them at pipe shows and they are a fine looking pipe, someday I'll grab one to judge for myself.
They were distributed in the past by XYZ distributing which was owned by Alan Schwartz, one of the most influential and knowledgeable tobacco giants in the industry. The line has now been sold to Arango Cigar Co., who also is the distributor of Nording, Rattray's, and many other fine pipe and tobacco lines, including the reintroduced Balkan Sobranie tobacco.
 
I own a Wessex smooth bent egg. It is an excellent smoker with good grain and heft. It seems very well made.

Looking at your links, the only thing I would question is the bowl volume of the pipe from Israel. 2.7 cc is only .19 cubic inches which is very small.
 
by all accounts they are an incredible value, however I would hesitate to buy one used for over $65 because a little perseverance will turn up new ones still in stock for less than $70 if you look hard enough
 
take a look at CupOJoes site. He carries a full line of these pipes, new from $39.95 up to $79.95. Finishes run from a nice smooth walnut stain to some nice blasted finishes.
 
To me, Wessex is synonym with fills. Just a heads-up, in case that matters to you...
 
Wet Dottle":uj8coz45 said:
To me, Wessex is synonym with fills. Just a heads-up, in case that matters to you...
But at that price range for new, what else would one expect :p
 
Smooth finishes will generally have less or smaller fills. Rusticated finishes are often used to conceal or remove areas that would be fills. Just sayin'.
 
Part of the reason why i don't particularly like buying over the internet, because i'd rather have a bland grained pipe with no fills then flame with one fill. Don't know what it is about fills but putty just seems an abortion on a pipe. I don't understand fills but why don't they just leave the fills natural i don't mind a little pit, just natural beauty of wood. why spackel it?
 
I might add that my Wessex pipe ran in the $140 range. I can find no evidence of a fill on the surface, but the stem is relatively short and was extended with acrylic and wood rings. That may have been due to a flaw in the stem.

Remember that Peterson, as an example, produces low, medium and high cost pipes all with the same shape, just different finishes.

Most pipe companies use machine turnings to achieve what I call 'blank' status of manufacture. These blanks are then graded before further processing, with the higher grades then turned into higher cost pipes. The lower grades are modified in either finish or by fills before becoming the lower cost pipes.

So regardless of the brand, if you want less fills, purchase the higher grades from that manufacturer.

These comments do not necessarily apply to independent makers, although some do offer lower priced pipes that are due to discoveries of latent flaws in the briar when the pipe is almost finished.
 
Wet Dottle":90qps8mj said:
To me, Wessex is synonym with fills. Just a heads-up, in case that matters to you...
Sorry to quote myself, but I would like to clarify that the Wessex I know are (were?) very cheap pipes, in the $40 to $50 range. I don't know how the more expensive line fares in this regard. The fills were nearly invisible when the pipes were new (that's why I got a few, because I didn't know they were there), but became prominent a while after the pipe was smoked. As the pipes got darker with time, the putty in the fills didn't darken with the rest of the pipe. The pipes had a smooth finish and there were many fills, some of them quite large. The smoking qualities were ok and the fills never bothered me because, like monbla said, they were inexpensive pipes. I'm not trying to give a bad review of the pipes, it's just that fills are something that matter to some, and I sure got my fill of them :)
 
i.keenum":v4ekusl9 said:
Part of the reason why i don't particularly like buying over the internet, because i'd rather have a bland grained pipe with no fills then flame with one fill. Don't know what it is about fills but putty just seems an abortion on a pipe. I don't understand fills but why don't they just leave the fills natural i don't mind a little pit, just natural beauty of wood. why spackel it?
You are obviously more economically fortunate than most to be able to maintain such a "purist" attitude :p Probably the onely firm that could satisfy your pipe requirements, fill wise, would be Dunhill for standard "lower cost" shapes and the rest you could get from one of many custom pipe makers both here and in Europe. I wouldn't worry about Wessex pipes. They would not meet your criteria :p
 
Few years back I bought via the Internet a new Wessex with "Handmade in Denmark" and the numbers 23 stamped on the stem. It's a bent with a bowl that's sort of egg shaped. It's carved so that the rim of the bowl is slightly higher on the east and west than on the north and south. Largish pipe, but seems light for its size. It smokes dry and neutral on flavor, was easy to break in and stays lit without a lot of fussing. I've looked at it carefully and don't see any pits or blemishes. It seems to be especially happy with a bowlful of Macbaren's Plumcake. 'Course your experience may vary. Good luck.
 
Far from being financially frivolous I buy pipes far and between and have got several for under 50 with no flaws. Just about the ability to get to get a real good look at then before you bite the bullet.
 
Pretty good smokes and cheap prices from my understanding. Check out some other sites besides ebay. I have found them closer to the $60 range for NEW pipes.
 
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