Smooth Brown Tomato (Two Jellyfish) Tobacco Pipe

Simone Gaudenzi grew up fascinated with pipes, recounting a fixation with them since long before he was a smoker. Upon finally having the chance to use one, he realized it was not enough to quell the obsession, and so soon thereafter joined as a carver with Ser Jacopo. After years of developing skills and learning everything he possibly could about the craft and its history, Gaudenzi left to explore his other great passion: the sea. These twin passions are united in Valbruna, Gaudenzi's solo pipe making venture and title of a legendary sunken city, whose ancient ruins purportedly fell beneath the tide off the coasts of Simone's hometown Gabbice Mare. Inspired in part by nautical vessels, and by the sea itself, Valbruna pipes seek to uncover uniquely balanced reinterpretations of classic shapes, with a sharp focus on the compositional impact of varied curves.

This Tomato is a stylish reinterpretation of the classic shape, one whose alterations are impressively understated given the entirety of the compositional impact it creates. The transition is wide, and it gives way here to a compressed, oval-shaped shank that tapers very slightly as it reaches out toward the stem: a length of black acrylic that continues the shank's taper admirably. The oval shaping here slenderizes the look of the aft side significantly, without sacrificing any stoutness from the smoker's perspective, bolstering the presence of the bowl in profile and complimenting its thickness from above. Up front, the bowl stands on a gradually upturned heel, supporting thick, curvaceous walls that broaden out toward a mid-set waistline, one set at a slight angle that lends the piece its other striking shaping feature. The rim, its aft side lifted from the adjusted waist, slopes forward sharply and grants the piece a striking bit of momentum that ensures the eye is drawn toward the fore. Dressed in a warm, mahogany-toned smooth finish, the bowl is wrapped with flame grain and the underside is covered in swirls of birdseye.