Ser Jacopo: Delecta Rusticated Bent Billiard (R1) (C) (Maxima) Tobacco Pipe

Founded in 1982 by Giancarlo Guidi, Ser Jacopo has built a reputation for 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. The Italian workshop's Delecta series is defined by its stylized shank end and stem base that often incorporate a combination of silver, acrylic, and briar. A swift, crisply defined flare out to the face typifies the shank end, while the stem's tenon or base is often extended with silver to provide a separation between the stummel and stem and add some elegant contrast. A robust, "Maxima" stamped bent Billiard benefits from this unique shank end combination, its tightly-knit length possessed of a lovely sinuousness. The transition is rather wide, and it gives way to a smartly lifting shank paired to a sleek, stylized saddle stem of black acrylic, a domed briar mount meeting the stem's silver-wrapped base while the entire combination poises the pipe for comfortable smoking. Up front, the bowl stands on a rounded, muscular heel and grows thick, subtly tapering walls that rise to an asymmetrical rim, the aft side dipping into a craggy area of plateau. The thick walls nicely insulate the chamber, and they provide ample space to display the stummel's rugged rustication, offering plenty of texture to appreciate in hand.