The joys and dangers of Ebay pipes

[OC Richard]

Evidently both the Robertson pipes and the Piob Mhor lack hallmarks, thus are nickel-silver/German silver/cupro-nickel mounts. They're still nice hand-chased Dalman & Narborough work, but this will impact the final prices.

Here's a Lawrie set currently under $300. I'm huge Lawrie fan and the sets I've had like this had super stability and tone.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17562620002...ndition=4%7C10

[Jock Scot]

Evidently both the Robertson pipes and the Piob Mhor lack hallmarks, thus are nickel-silver/German silver/cupro-nickel mounts. They're still nice hand-chased Dalman & Narborough work, but this will impact the final prices.

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Not necessarily, they still could be silver, but without the hallmarks they cannot be legally sold as silver in the Uk and you are right, that does affect the price quite considerably.

[OC Richard]

Not necessarily, they still could be silver, but without the hallmarks they cannot be legally sold as silver in the Uk and you are right, that does affect the price quite considerably.

The thing is, the mounts on both sets of pipes are clearly the work of Dalman & Narborough, who have supplied their distinctive hand-chased mounts to pipemakers for many years.

D&N have long made all of their various hand-chased patterns both in solid nickel-silver and in Sterling Silver, looking quite identical except that they diligently and fully hallmark their Sterling Silver, and leave their nickel-silver mounts with no marks whatever.

I messaged both sellers and they say that the mounts have no marks.

In the old days various pipemakers made hallmarked engraved Sterling Silver mounts in-house, but as far as I know the chased mounts always came from D&N.

In any case here are D&N hand-chased Sterling Silver mounts in their "Runic" pattern with repousse bosses. These are identical to the Robertson set currently on Ebay, though the seller says his set's mounts are unmarked.



(The firm was originally Frederick Narborough FN maker's mark but in the 1960s became Dalman & Narborough D&N mark.)

[OC Richard]

Did anyone see what price the Robertson ivory & FN-mounted closed at? Last I looked, a couple hours before close, it was a bit over $2000. I suspect that last-minute bidding would have put it over $3000.

Or the Piob Mhor D&N-mounted set? Last I looked it was a bit over $300, and I can't imagine it would have closed that low. The mounts looked plastic in the photos, which didn't however seem clear enough to see Schreger lines if those were present. I would guess that even with Piob Mhor not having a big reputation, a lovely Scottish-made African Blackwood set would go in the $700-900 range or more.

[JPS]

Did anyone see what price the Robertson ivory & FN-mounted closed at? Last I looked, a couple hours before close, it was a bit over $2000. I suspect that last-minute bidding would have put it over $3000.

Or the Piob Mhor D&N-mounted set? Last I looked it was a bit over $300, and I can't imagine it would have closed that low. The mounts looked plastic in the photos, which didn't however seem clear enough to see Schreger lines if those were present. I would guess that even with Piob Mhor not having a big reputation, a lovely Scottish-made African Blackwood set would go in the $700-900 range or more.

Over $3,000 is right. They closed at $4,610 + shipping! If you got it, use it, I guess.

[OC Richard]

Over $3,000 is right. They closed at $4,610 + shipping! If you got it, use it, I guess.

Wow.

For Sterling Silver that's a good price, however the seller told me he went over the mounts with a loupe and there were no stamps of any sort.

Which indicates Frederick Narborough solid nickel mounts, which are beautiful but not Silver.

[OC Richard]

Here's a Hardie set given a wildly inaccurate date:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22549386852...ndition=4%7C10

I know because I worked at a Highland Outfitter who sold Hardie pipes at the time Hardie introduced this swirly marble-like imitation ivory.

I worked for the shop from 1983 to 1988 and as best I can recall it was around the midpoint of my time there that a shipment of pipes and practice chanters direct from Hardie appeared with these mounts.

It was strange stuff! Swirls of two different sorts of plastic, the lighter colour hard and brittle, the darker color soft and slightly rubbery (you could press a fingernail into it).

It was extremely prone to cracking, often along the juncture between the two sorts of plastic. Shipments came with broken mounts quite often, as Hardie wasn't good about packing their things, typically just tossing them in a box to rattle around during shipping. (I was the one who generally opened the boxes.)

Prior to that marblised plastic, Hardie was using a plain plastic that had a very slight greenish tint when new, but as it aged looked slightly more like ivory. At least it didn't chip as much.

Here's the marble stuff introduced in the mid-1980s

[Toxpert]

Wow.

For Sterling Silver that's a good price, however the seller told me he went over the mounts with a loupe and there were no stamps of any sort.

Which indicates Frederick Narborough solid nickel mounts, which are beautiful but not Silver.

The Robertson mounts are a silver alloy. Less silver content than sterling and soft enough to work the engraving and reposse’ work. Enough silver content to shine like silver; without worry of wearing through silver-plate. Blowpipe ivory has a couple of non-structural tiny cracks, otherwise wood and ivory are in exceptional condition. Bass mid required a new tuning pin (broken tip). Repair is flawless. Classic, balanced Robertson tone and pipes lock in and tuning is rock-steady.
I have listed on ePrey a set of very nice casein Robertsons which the above have replaced. The casein is in extraordinary condition and has not degraded and is a rock-hard finish. Excellent set for a pro performance without ivory worries.
The seller refunded me for costs related to required repairs. Together with seller refund and selling the un-needed Hardie chanter, the cost for the Robertson set was less than $4000. This price was less than what I see for the respected-resellers...and the pipes were actually in very good condition. Everything all cleaned up and gleaming now...fantastic tone to my critical ears.