Smooth Bent Brandy with Silver Tobacco Pipe

Once supervisor of the prestigious W.Ø. Larsen workshop and manager of Bentley pipes in Switzerland and Germany, Hans "Former" Nielsen has been crafting pipes for over sixty years, including his own handmade work still available today. His pipes are among the most collected and renowned in the world, and he's as much a capable machinist and craftsman as he is a discerning artist: His pipes are the pinnacle of engineering and quality, and his shaping style adheres to artisan renditions of timeless designs.

A remarkable pipe, this bent Brandy is the stunning confluence of natural briar grain and handmade, artisan shaping — the combination that every carver searches and hopes for in every composition. Though a pipe maker can control every aspect of shaping, a briar block's quality and grain patterns remain variable. In this piece, though, nature and craft have harmonized beautifully for a pipe whose natural grain perfectly complements Former's shaping: The stem's upturn is matched by the vertical grain's trajectory on each flank, and the grain continues up the sides of the bowl and across the front to leave dense birdseye below. Robust in hand while still remaining quite sleek, the bowl tapers toward the rim while the heel's curve flows seamlessly through the shank and into the stem's recurve. Dressed in a rich contrast stain for vivid grain definition, it's topped by a sterling silver shank cap for further elegance and refinement.