Silver Gray: Sandblasted Derby with Black Palm Tobacco Pipe

I was fortunate enough to meet Silver Gray at 2019's Chicagoland Pipe Show, and while there, if memory serves me, I consistently saw her smoking a lightweight bent Billiard with a slightly elongated stem. It was a lithe, elegant, and highly practical design, and this bent Billiard rendition — which she has dubbed the Derby — is a very similar design to the one I remember her smoking. The form is marked by slender proportions all around, through the bowl and shank, and concentrated on the half-saddle stem's trim curvature. That stem is slightly longer than would be seen on a classic bent Billiard of this size, and such a design cue accentuates the sleek nature of this shape, while also serving to further balance the pipe when smoked hands free. This is a pipe meant for practical, everyday use, offering a generous depth of chamber for leisurely smoking and affording an effortless smoking posture. The plum-hued stain and sandblast are classic and will hide any handling marks that it might accrue over the years, and the accent of black palm wood matches the overall palette but adds diversity in its striated grain pattern.