Adam Davidson: Sandblasted Almond with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Adam has been making and refining his Almond shape for ages, yet it might not have ever been if he hadn't had the wrong piece of briar. Let me explain: The first Adam Davidson Almond came about because one day long ago Adam wanted to make a large Acorn, but none of the blocks he had at hand were wide enough to allow for one. Thus, he decided to try a large, but flattened Acorn, tweaked the details to make the shape work better with these altered proportions, and wound up creating something unique.

Some details that make the Almond an Almond and not just a compressed Acorn are obvious, such as the crisp edge to the rim, the emphasis on height in the shank and depth in the transition, and the invariable presence of a pronounced step between stem and shank-end, whether said stem is of a saddle type or, as here, one with a rounded, bullet-nose shaped base. In Davidson Almonds of this particular sort, those with that latter type of stem, there's another notable, specific, but very subtle detail to look out for: a very, very slight doming of the boxwood accent, which is Adam's way of making it play along more naturally with the lines of the bowl's silhouette.

- Eric N. Squires