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(The pipes shown here are not for sale. The purpose of this site is to inform and illustrate. No warranty is given for the information provided.)

All brands in the top, longer list on the left are represented in my personal collection. You will find the following information on each:

Country: Maker's country of origin/residence as usually perceived, e.g. Talbert = US (despite emigration to France), but Zeman = New Zealand (despite Czech origins).

Price: Entry-level price, excluding chance bargains, cited as X+. 'Entry-level' refers to pipes commonly available. When a carver's official grading system includes a more affordable grade, yet such pipes are rarely (if ever) produced, that grade is ignored.

When top prices exceed 500% of entry-level prices, these may also be indicated. All prices are approximate. Special considerations pertaining to estate prices may be mentioned under 'Notes'.

Unless otherwise indicated, prices are cited in Euros and usually include sales tax (where this is levied). Price information is gleaned from the following sources, in order of preference:

• Maker's own website
• Average European website
• Average American website
• European B&M store
• Other

Production method: Categories are Factory, Machine-assisted and Freehand - note that the latter applies to a method of making pipes, not to a style. Machine-assisted pertains to pipes involving a high degree of manual labour, as opposed to 'mass-produced' pipes.

Tier: Overall quality/desirability classification on this site is according to my perception of brand reputation, rather than to my own preferences. (Sometimes, I will also give an opinion of my own in the comments section.)

Tiers start at the Affordable level, though this is not the lowest class on the market. Basket and low-quality brands are not mentioned at all. Thus, Affordable refers to an eminently smoke-worthy, quality pipe (such as a Stanwell). Mid-grade encompasses the wide range of (often artisan) pipes providing fundamentally sound design/engineering and sometimes even approaching collectible status, whereas Elevated (my own term, coined to avoid sub-division of the mid-grade tier) applies to brands lacking very few of the qualities normally ascribed to high-grade pipes. There's also a distinction between High-grade and Top, the latter class being reserved for a dozen or so carvers who have maintained an international reputation for supreme excellence over a period of ten or more years. The so-called ultra high-graders commanding average prices of
€ 1500 or more all belong to this tier, but some very deserving makers do not. Sometimes, youth or a regional marketing focus constitute the main barriers.

Production methods do not affect this grading system - thus Dunhill is classed as High-grade. Most producers are categorized according to the bulk of their output, but those who produce two or more distinctly separate lines (e.g. Talbert and Former) may be classed twice.

Notes: Additional information of an objective kind, as well as evaluation based on broad perception of a brand.

Comments: My personal comments on a given brand.