Martelo: Smooth Pot with Bamboo and Jacaranda Tobacco Pipe

With a degree in design and specializing in the design of furniture, Gustavo Cunha of Martelo became interested in making pipes around 2013, when he traveled from his native Brazil to Denmark and studied with Tom Eltang. Since then he's made an impression with his Danish approach to English classic shapes, such as this Pot. The detail work is phenomenal. As small as the pipe is, it maintains a broad rim of fine birdseye, with thick chamber walls for insulation while smoking. The grain of the bowl curves a little bit, but it's as close to straight grain as possible, and the broad, subtly convex heel still permits easy sitting on a surface. As remarkable as the grain may be, the shank seems to maintain its own starring role with five tightly knit knuckles of bamboo, the nodes of which have been filled with droplet-like beads of Jacaranda, a bushy tree native to Brazil. The bamboo itself is well grained and detailed, and is followed at the stem side by a decorative expansion ring before diminishing to the flat saddle bit. Light, beautiful, detailed, and expertly crafted, this Martelo Pot will slip into a pocket, but it isn't a piece you would ever want to risk losing.