Fewer than a dozen pipe makers have produced shapes that collectors consider genuinely canonical — and most serious collections contain pipes that are misattributed, misclassified, or documented only in memory. A collection without a systematic record is an accumulation, not a library.
The Taxonomy Problem
Shape is the classification challenge in pipe collecting. The template addresses this with 51 discrete shape options — Apple, Billiard, Bulldog, Churchwarden, Dublin, Freehand, Rhodesian, and 44 others. The distinction between Bent Billiard and Bent Dublin, or between Bulldog and Bullmoose, is real to collectors and invisible to everyone else. Having those distinctions available as structured choices rather than free-text entries makes the collection sortable and comparable in ways that free text never is.
Maker and Line capture the commercial provenance. A Dunhill Shell Briar and a Dunhill Root Briar are the same Maker but different Lines — different materials, different finishes, different values. The template treats them as separate fields because they require separate tracking.
Dimensional Data
The six measurement fields — Length, Outside Diameter, Chamber Diameter, Chamber Depth, Bowl Height, Weight — with millimeter and gram hints are not decorative precision. For a collector managing pipes across multiple storage environments, knowing exact chamber dimensions is practical: which pipes accept which filters, which bowls require which tampers, which shapes fit which cases.
Stem Material (vulcanite, acrylic, horn, Cumberland) affects both smoking experience and care requirements. Finish (smooth, rusticated, sandblasted, carved) and Color together document the aesthetic character that photographs capture but text searches cannot retrieve without structured data.
Ownership and Valuation
Owned tracks whether a pipe is in the collection or on a wanted list. A collection database that doubles as a wishlist requires this distinction — otherwise the browsing history of desired pipes contaminates the inventory of actual holdings.
Filter (no/type hint) records filter compatibility, which is a practical operational field for regular smokers. Price in USD establishes the purchase record. Personal Rating (out of 5) documents satisfaction with the piece — a field that, filtered against price, reveals where the best value in a collection actually sits.