Former: Sandblasted Billiard Tobacco Pipe

Hans "Former" Nielsen is a living legend — a Danish pipe maker who has honed his craft for over sixty years and earned worldwide renown for creating fine smoking instruments. Former's reputation for perfection precedes him, and his shaping style showcases a carefully considered artistry and extremely clean line work, marrying refined aesthetics to internal engineering that guarantees phenomenal smoking every time. This Billiard is a truly timeless piece from the artisan, one that acts as an exemplar of the profile thanks to its excellent proportions and measured, balanced build. While not a lengthy piece, this pipe maintains a bit of reach to its silhouette, coming in at just a touch under six inches long and assuming a look that emphasizes its slender stretch of shank and stem. The shank itself reaches out from a wide transition and boasts a length almost perfectly as long as the bowl is tall, creating an area of visual emphasis near the fore thanks to the stummel's exacting proportions. Paired to the shank is a comparatively far-reaching stem of tapering black vulcanite that lends the shank and stem combination an aerodynamic appearance and focuses a bit more visual weight on the composition's fore. Up front, the bowl stands on a rounded, plump heel whose curve at the fore immediately lifts into the bowl's fore wall, marking the low-set waistline before these walls take on an easy, subtly rounded taper toward the rim. Additionally, these walls take on a smart bit of forward cant as they softly cinch to the rim, redoubling the aerodynamic look fostered by the shank and stem. Dressing this pipe is a crisp, auburn-tinged sandblast that unveils dense stacks of ring grain rippling down the walls of the bowl, with this undulating pattern extending down the shank in concentric rivulets.