System Pipes

Two weeks ago SPC (Smokingpipes.com) released the first batch of what I’ve been thinking of as “the Dark System,” but which is actually called the Standard System Dark. It’s not a replacement for the lighter-stained Standard System Smooth, but an additional finish to the System line, one that will be welcomed by many System fans across the globe. “Affectionately referred to as the ‘Heritage’ finish at the Peterson factory,” the SPC email reads, “the System Standard Dark Smooth displays a deep, walnut-and-burgundy stain that hearkens back to the color palette seen dressing System pipes 80 years ago. Peterson’s craftsmen precisely apply each Dark Smooth stain by hand before polishing the stummel to a glossy sheen, offering a tasteful balance between grain definition and the finish’s rustic hue.” I have seen many dark-stained Petes over the years, some dating all the way back to the Patent era, so I think it might be illuminating to first take a look at the new line and then look at the new line’s antecedents found in descriptions and illustrations from the K&P ephemera and a few physical specimens. This all becomes especially fascinating to me considering the contemporary pipe community’s strong and diverging opinions on the subject of dark stains. It may be that one’s like or dislike has to do with where one lives as well as one’s economic and cultural matrix. I say this because, like many U.S. pipemen, John Schantz commented on the “Keep it Dark” post: “Dark is bad…it hides things. Like makeup on clowns, mimes and painted ladies [who] all have something to hide …. [it] creeps me out.” Yet simultaneously, just across the pond in the UK, Andrew Jones can say: “Dark is the traditional finish in the UK. It should not surprise us if an Irish pipe maker, so geographically close to the UK and attentive to UK market preferences should re-establish deep stains on a regular basis. Here’s hoping Pete’s next dark stain isn’t one of their rather-less-than-great varnishes.” Joshua Burgess, managing director at Peterson, addresses Andrew’s question: “The finish isn’t a spray like you sometimes see on darker pipes. It’s a traditional brush-on finish. With that in mind, the bowl doesn’t have to be perfectly clean in the way that an ebony pipe requires cleanness. The darker stain is also a little more forgiving in terms of grain. But looking at the six samples on my desk, I’d buy any of them for myself without reservations.” For those who don’t know Josh from his earlier work with Smokingpipes.com, his aesthetic for a pipe seems to be in the “form-follows-function” camp, which is to say that he can be as happy smoking a $60 Ropp as a $600 artisan pipe, and perhaps more so. In my opinion, this has made him a great leader for Peterson, a company which has always been there for those entering the hobby and those who don’t have deep pockets as well as those who’ve grown up with the brand and…