Smooth Light Bent Apple Tobacco Pipe

Ser Jacopo alum Simone Gaudenzi is well-trained in the Pesaro school of pipe making, which emphasizes clean lines and panache in design. Today, Gaudenzi crafts Valbruna pipes in the small town of Gabicce Mare on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, which plays an important role in the company's nomenclature: per Adriatic legend, Valbruna is a lost, sunken city like Atlantis. Gaudenzi ages the briar for his pipes, which are produced in limited quantities. True to his maritime roots, he uses jellyfish to identify levels of quality.

The stummel of this bent Apple from Valbruna takes on fascinating shapes — the bowl is very round and very tapered toward the rim, and the brief, upturned shank is pentagonal with a very narrow underside. The grain varies, with flame grain mostly confined to the lower surface of the stummel and birdseye on the underside, the rim of the bowl, and the top of the bowl on the right flank, with the stummel finished smoothly and stained a light walnut hue. The bowl is quite substantial in the hand and slopes very quickly from the top of the aft to the top of the shank. The vulcanite stem tapers from the hexagonal shank face to a single pair of ridgelines, bending near the bit to allow for easier clenching in the jaw. Muscle is a particular feature, especially in the shank, that gives this piece a certain brawniness despite its smooth finish and considerable curves.