Smooth Brown Bent Egg with Cumberland Stem (Two Jellyfish) (Calypso) Tobacco Pipe

In creating his brand, Valbruna, Italian artisan Simone Gaudenzi has combined his two passions: pipes and the sea. Before branching out on his own as a pipe-making artisan, Gaudenzi worked under the mentorship of Giancarlo Guidi at the famed Ser Jacopo workshop. There, he developed a keen eye for design and a deep appreciation for the whimsical Pesaro style, which appears prominently in his portfolio to this day. Gaudenzi took a break from pipe making to work in a shipyard, but eventually submitted to the siren song of pipe making once again, returning to the Ser Jacopo workshop in 2014. Now the founder of his own brand, he imbues every Valbruna piece with his love of both the pipe-making craft and the sea, with his grading system heavily reflecting aquatic themes, and the moniker of the brand itself a reference to the legendary underwater city of the same name.

This bent Egg from Gaudenzi is an elegant yet eye-catching offering, featuring a contrast-rich finish and a lovely cumberland stem — the latter of which earned this pipe the Calypso designation, along with its distinctive shaping. This is a lithe take on the classic Egg shape, and the bowl stands quite tall in the composition: a thoroughly Italian neoclassical detail. The bowl houses a chamber just over two inches deep, making this pipe well-suited for long, relaxing smoking sessions which will be made more comfortable by the lengthy, downturned stem. Handsome grain abounds throughout the stummel, and it's dressed in a rich, smooth finish that perfectly complements the burgundy hues and striated finish of the cumberland stem.