BriarWorks: Light Smooth Blowfish (DC1) Tobacco Pipe

The Signature Series Calabash was an immediate hit, taking one of Todd Johnson's signature shapes and executing it on a scale accessible by a whole ranger of collectors — all while maintaining such a rigorous consistency in quality, engineering, and finish. It was just the first of many designs to be featured in the marque's superior line of briars, as today we introduce another shape to the Signature lineup: the Todd Johnson Blowfish.

A compact, delightfully charming take on the shape, this is an excellent example of a Fugu-style Blowfish with an exaggerated fin along the right flank and smooth defining lines throughout. The BriarWorks team has managed to pack in a wonderfully dynamic style into such a compact design, perfectly accentuating the block's natural grain patterns through the shape's framing paneled design. It's framed so well, in fact, that this particular piece earned the marque's prestigious Designer's Choice stamp.

Suffice to say, Fugu interpretations like this often exceed the thousand dollar range, yet Todd, Pete, and the other talented artisans at BriarWorks have managed to give you this beautifully grained Designer's Choice for half the price.

- Andrew Wike