Ray Kurusu: Smooth Blowfish with Boxwood (Owl) Tobacco Pipe

This is the first "Owl" grade we've ever seen from Ray Kurusu — his highest and most prestigious designation. When we received this pipe from Ray, he even said he personally considers this Blowfish to be the best pipe he's ever created. And, quite frankly, we agree.

From the overall shaping, to the finish, to the smart choice of accents, this is just beautiful work all around. The large, dynamic, yet smoothly flowing Blowfish design is striking from across the room. Ray's careful use of asymmetry is deliberate and calculated, resulting in a tapered cross-section along the fore and aft of the bowl and a perfect balance between hard lines and softer curves along the shank and stem base. And as beautiful as the design itself is, Ray's attention to grain orientation is perhaps just as impressive here. Deep, whirling birdseye canvases either flank, perfectly framed by the shape's convex panels, while cross-grain fills the gaps in between — all complementary to the form itself. Though keeping the majority of the design smooth and polished, Ray even incorporated the block's natural plateau along the left flank, once again complementing that aforementioned deliberate asymmetry quite nicely. Beautiful work. I, for one, am envious of whoever ends up with this precedent-setting piece from Kurusu.

- Andrew Wike