Jacono: Smooth Olivewood Bent Apple (Checkmate) Tobacco Pipe

Tonino Jacono is the Italian artisan behind Jacono pipes, and he's one of the few carvers to fashion pieces completely out of olivewood instead of simply using it as an accenting material. Olivewood is a material distinctive from briar, possessing a sandy hue and and a dark, inky, watercolor-like grain pattern. Here, Jacono presents a Checkmate-sized bent Apple shape made from the material, and it's a large, palm-filling design in true Italian neoclassical style. The sheer size of the nearly spherical bowl dwarfs the relative trim proportions of the low-set shank-and-stem arrangement. Like most of his olivewood designs, this piece is topped off by an abbreviated saddle stem, this one made of emerald-hued acrylic. Bold, hearty, and completely eye-catching, this hunky briar exudes a confident charm.