G. Penzo: Sandblasted Billiard with Silver (Shell) (A) Tobacco Pipe

Giacomo Penzo is a man who understands that pipes are equal parts tool and art, taking to heart that these objects of desire must first and foremost be both functional and beautiful, with excellent smoking properties and aesthetics. His love for pipes runs deep, with a great respect for the traditions of both the Anglo-French and Danish schools of design, leveraging his degree in industrial design to create striking pieces that fuse the two styles with his own unique outlook, something reflected here in this straight Billiard. Widely considered to be the archetypal pipe shape, the Billiard is a profile that graces shape charts around the world, its iconic look one that is both rigidly defined and open to plenty of interpretation. As such, Penzo has decided to maintain many of the conventions that have made this silhouette a classic, pairing a sleek tapered stem to an arrow-straight length of shank, the junction marked by a broad silver band, and it's quite wide, allowing plenty of room to drape a digit of your choice. The bowl displays a slight upward taper and appreciable forward cant to balance the lines of the profile, imbuing the pipe with a gentle forward momentum. The bowl's walls sit atop a sweeping, rounded heel that accentuates the curves of the fore wall quite well, and its rim is flat, though chamfered at the start of the chamber for easy tobacco loading. The stummel is here dressed in an inky Shell Briar-like sandblast that reveals stacks of ring grain rippling around the bowl, with growth rings quavering up the shank, its dark hues contrasted strikingly by the silver accent, smooth rim, and cumberland stem.