Pipe accessories; we often speak of pipe accessories, varying from artistic hand-shaped tampers to the trusty Czech tool, to Old Boy lighters, to pipe stands, and even entire pipe-cabinets. Yet it occurred to me this past weekend that there's also a more subtle, but farther-reaching category as well -- that of the pipe-smoker accessory.

You see, on Saturday night I found myself standing outside the Duck and Dive pub in Wilmington, North Carolina, taking a smoke break and chit-chatting with the organ player for the Carvers (the local surf-and-stomp band that was playing that evening), when another patron commented on the fitness of the combination of my double-breasted jacket, rather anachronistic facial hair, and the slender-stemmed old English pocket-pipe clenched between my teeth. I jokingly stated that the particularly conspicuous whiskers were mostly to annoy certain female co-workers, before pointing out that I actually went through most days thinking nothing of them on account of spending my days in an environment where the majority of my (male) peers wore their own various variations on wild and free facial hair follicles. And that's when it hit me.

A Dunhill may never look more at home than in the hand of a man in tweed, a cob's most natural environment may be under the shade of a baseball or trucker hat, and a black-and-silver dress briar is, of course, made to match formal dress, but the ultimate and most universally applicable pipe-smoker accessory, from all my observations, has been some manner of facial hair. (Even some members of the fairer sex, despite considerable natural disadvantage, seem to have grasped this.) I've long since lost count of the variety of beards, moustaches, and goatees that I've seen either Adam or Ted go through, John has grown, shaved off, then regrown at least two full and luxurious beards, ditto Chris Johnson, Chris Huff came with one already included, and Brandon's ruddy whiskers could pass him off for a member of the House of Plantagenet. I've even heard one of us confide that while his wife will complain about his beard, whenever he's shaven it off she's gotten downright angry, genuinely upset over its sudden absence.

While there is no doubt more insight to be gained with further observation, for today I'll leave the long and short of what I've gathered at this: A pipe without a good beard or moustache behind it is like a duck without a quack, women are mad and will be angry no matter you do, but are far more forgiving in the presence of fully-matured facial hair, and that in adapting to my own, unusually hirsute working environment, I've probably been unwittingly receiving a lot of curious - possibly admiring - stares at the supermarket.

But that's all from me for this newsletter, and now it's on to the main show. For this Thursday's update we have for you artisanal briars by J. Alan, Paolo Becker, Ardor, Mastro de Paja, and, newly re-introduced to our line-up: American artisan Mark Tinsky. Following up on those you'll find an impressive array of smokers by Peterson, Savinelli, Brebbia, and Neerup, and quite a varied refresh of our estate offerings, counting a full seventy-plus pipes across a broad spectrum of origins and asking prices.

 Eric Squires: Copywriter