Ser Jacopo: Sandblasted Dublin (S2) (B) (Maxima Maxima) Tobacco Pipe

Founded in 1982 by Giancarlo Guidi, Ser Jacopo has built a reputation on crafting high-quality briars that are renowned for their robust proportions and playful shaping cues. The Italian atelier's style has since defined the Pesaro style of pipe making, each of their pipes imbued with a sense of character and reflecting the whimsical creativity that went into crafting them. Though Guidi passed away in 2012, his legacy lives on not only in the pipes he crafted, or the company he founded, but in the language of design that he helped to pioneer. This Dublin is part of the workshop's Maxima series, the line denoting pipes that are larger than normal from the Pesaro carvers, where each stamp represents a subsequent increase in size. This particular piece is stamped twice with the designation, and it boasts a look that's reminiscent of both the Poker and the Pot, its impressive thickness standing atop a flattened, sure-sitting heel. A wide transition here gives way to a stout, tapering shank that diminishes as it reaches toward a sleek, slender saddle stem of jet-black acrylic. The shank-and-stem combination does well to balance the presence of the bowl, their similar heartiness keeping the stummel unified in appearance, with the shank's tapering look inverted at the fore: the bowl itself flaring smartly out toward the rim. This flare makes for a commanding feel in hand and creates some impressively thick walls that rise tall, surrounding a capacious chamber primed for extended smoking sessions. Dressed in a crisp sandblast and warm stain, the stummel showcases a wealth of handsome grain throughout, making every inch of this weighty briar intriguing.