English Estates: Royal Coachman Smooth Apple (556) (by Comoy's) Tobacco Pipe

This Apple from Comoy's Royal Coachman brand is a robust pipe, though one which boasts an impressive compactness given its shaping. The bowl here stands on a rounded heel and expands to a low-set waistline that affords it a look similar to the Tomato, with a defined sense of squat rotundity about its construction. Out back, a wide transition gives way to a sleek, gently tapering shank that's met by a slender saddle stem of black vulcanite.

Comoy's is one of the most legendary brands in all of pipe making, being one of the oldest marques in existence to still be operating today, with the unique distinction of being one of the first firms to use briar for their stummels. Founded in 1825 by Francois Comoy and his brothers in the small town of Saint-Claude, France, the original iteration of the company made clay and boxwood pipes until 1848, when his son Louis discovered the smoking properties of briar. In 1879 Comoy's expanded into London, England, and rapidly grew, influencing London's own pipe industry as Henri Comoy introduced high-quality briar pipes into the popular consciousness of English smokers. The brand continued to expand throughout the early 20th century, hindered only by the strict manufacturing limitations of World War II supply shortages, remaining within the Comoy family until Cadogan Investments bought out the brand in the early 1980s.