The Peterson Company of Ireland, founded in 1865, is a world-famous brand of high-quality pipes, with the Sherlock Holmes series of pipes being the most prestigious

An old pipe manufacturer founded in 1874 (and more specialized, according to The Collector's Compendium, founded in 1865) has suddenly become one of the hottest collectors in the collector's market in recent years. At the time, the factory relied primarily on variable pipe shapes and logos to attract the attention of collectors. THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PETERSON PIPES, BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF PIPES IS NOT EASY TO TELL AND IS OFTEN CONFUSED EVEN BY SOME PIPE COLLECTORS.

The first type of pipe, which is also the oldest pipe, is known as the "first hundred years" period from 1875 to 1974. Products from the first 100 years include the Irish Free State and the pre-Irish Republic logos, which have an unusual historical value, as are the design of the pipes themselves, which have largely retained their character and style over the course of 100 years, with little change in their character. However, from the mid-80s onwards, a group of Peterson avid collectors played a major role in promoting the Peterson pipe collection, inspired by the different styles of "limited edition pipes" that Peterson had launched.

These "limited edition" pipes inspire an unrivalled passion for today's pipe collectors. These relatively modern Peterson pipe collecting trends also kicked off the "late" Peterson, and in 1975 the company introduced "themed editions" and "limited editions" of commemorative pipes, many of which were recreations of old pipes of the past.

Although Peterson always prides itself on being "Made in Ireland", Peterson's London factory has remained in place since the 60's, and the word "London" on the pipes is very tempting for those with deep pockets. Another lesser-known anecdote about early Peterson pipes is their famous silver top markings. Today, these marks are highly regarded by Peterson and collectors, and it makes sense to do so. But there was a time when these signs were associated with the word "patriotic", so that the symbol "London" was not used for a relatively brief period in Ireland. Later, the markings on the goods for export were gradually formalized and standardized, as we see today. All Peterson pipes now have the words Hibernia (Ireland's logo) on the top of the rare metal, as well as the Harp Crowned (representing 22 carats of pure gold or 925 carats of silver), and a date and word code system such as a Date Letter Code to indicate the year the pipe was made. As a result, the history of these marked Peterson pipes is well documented, which certainly adds to the charm of those already collectible pipes.

Now let's step into the "post-100" period of Peterson pipes. The first collector's item during this period was the Peterson Centennial, produced in 1975 to commemorate the company's centenary. The Peterson Centennial (Peterson 100 Years) bucket type is available in both straight and curved styles, and all have silver rings. After the Peterson Centennial, in 1981 the company launched a reprint of the Mark Twain's Peterson, the first Mark Twain's Peterson pipes produced in 1896 in Hannibal, Missouri. The company started with just 400 "limited edition" Golden Ring pipes of the first category, but they were so well received that the company quietly increased the number of 400 pipes to 1,000, and these high-quality pipes were numbered one by one. Initially, these pipes sold for $350 to $400 each and were packaged in red gift boxes or book-shaped boxes. In addition to this, the company produces 2,500 "Class II" pipes, some of which are packaged in the same "book" type packaging as the "Class I" Golden Ring pipes.

Finally, in order to meet the market demand (in order to use defective pipes as efficiently as possible), the company also produced a number of rusticate pipes with silver tops. In addition, the factory also produced ash statues of some celebrity writers and pipes to sell. For some reason, few would have thought that Peterson would release another "limited edition", so collectors were surprised to learn that in 1988 Peterson had launched the Millennium pipe. Is Peterson going to celebrate the new millennium 12 years in advance? The answer is no. The year 1988 marks exactly 1,000 years since the birth of the Irish city of Dublin. The Peterson Millennium Edition includes two variants: Dublin and Oom Paul. According to the historical records and collections given to the company, although some collectors bought both Dublin and Oom Paul, they were not sets. Each pipe has a special sterling silver ring with a logo, a blue gift box with ribbons wrapped around a roll of parchment. Peterson Dublin Millennium was only produced in the year of Dublin's millennium, after which no more pipes were produced.

By far the most popular Peterson "limited edition" is the Sherlock Holmes collection, a collection of seven pipes, each named after a story or character from the adventures of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. These collections have earned the nickname The Original Collection since they were first introduced. The first pipe in these series was a gourd-shaped pipe with heather root, known as The Original. This pipe was originally produced in 1987, the year it was produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the release of A Study In Scarlet, the first book in the Sherlock Holmes series. The mouthpieces of this marked silver-ringed pipe are available in both saddle and "P" shapes, and have both glossy and rusticated finishes. The pipe sold so quickly that another Sherlock Holmes Jr. was quickly introduced to meet market demand, a smaller pipe than the original, but which later proved to be less popular than the original. Later, in 1988, the company introduced a Baskerville pipe with a curved bulldog bucket. Since then, a Sherlock Holmes collection has been released every six months: The Baker Street, The Deerstalker, The Squire, The Professor, and The Watson.

In addition to the standard silver ring on each pipe (with the outline of Sherlock Holmes printed on it), a gold ring is attached to a select selection of non-defective pipes, and a special pipe holder is used to hold the set of 7 pipes. But Peterson's Sherlock Holmes saga doesn't end there. While the first set of seven was still talked about by pipe players, the company launched another set of seven, and this set of pipes is called The Return of Sherlock Holmes. The seven are (in order of appearance): The Rathbone, Hudson, Mycroft, Lestrade, Milverton, Strand, and Hansom. Although neither of the Sherlock Holmes series is numbered, these pipes are given gold rings in a special order as their heather quality allows. They are mostly available in Rusticated and Black Ebony finishes, but the glossy finish of walnut with stripes has always been the most popular, so it is still in production today.

Encouraged by the continued success of the Sherlock Holmes range, Peterson has gone on to introduce a number of specially treated gold and silver top collector's pipes and "special edition" pipes that have benefited from the company's long history. For example, there is a Peterson Antique Collection that is a "four-in-one" recreation of the last four Peterson Antique Collections, which were originally produced by the Peterson factory in 1903 – the bent, billiard, bulldog and Dublin – have always been very popular. Each pipe is silver-topped, with inspection markings, and has a mouthpiece shape that is famous for its "P" or fishtail shape, which represents Peterson. In order to extract the full value of past products, the Peterson factory also produced the Old English series from the 30s of the 20th century, which included 12 models, all of which were popular at the time, each with a gold-plated silver ring topped with a pipe.

Although Peterson is a long-established brand that has crossed from the 19th century to the 21st century, it seems that the collection of Peterson pipes has only just begun.