You're talking to a guy whose pipe collection tops out at $200 a piece, so...

Certain carvers built a name for themselves making extremely well-smoking pipes. They use/used only the finest aged briar and carved in such an intricate way that the briar's natural grain has been accentuated. They also either maintain exceptional examples of classic shapes and designs OR they push the envelope and create incredibly unique pieces, eitehr of which a normal carver just wouldn't be able to achieve. Likewise, they're such labor-intensive pieces that they could only make so many each year which gave an inherent rarity to them - and then some of these carvers passed away or retired, so no more pieces are being produced. All of that attributes to the price of these things.

All of that said... You should buy that Nordh!