Savinelli Autograph: Autograph Smooth Poker (4) (6mm) Tobacco Pipe

Savinelli's Autograph is the Italian marque's limited-production, handmade series, utilizing specially aged extra-extra plateau briar and being crafted by only three of the brand's most experienced carvers. From start to finish, the process of crafting a single one of these pipes is handled by a single one of these veteran craftsmen, the series providing them with design freedom and allowing them to express their personal creativity. This Poker is a good example of the line's more conservative work, with a stout, cylindrical bowl sat at the fore, resting atop a flattened heel whose presence further underscores the firmness of the bowl's construction. A wide transition out back gives way to a fairly short shank that lifts extremely gently to meet a demurely curved stem of black acrylic, offering a comfortable smoking posture. The transition itself is lifted slightly, elevated from the bottom of the bowl to a more mid-set position, it and the slight forward cant of the bowl's walls lending this pipe a bit of dynamism. Dressed in a warm mahogany stain, there's plenty of handsome grain to appreciate across the stummel.