Smooth Light Bent Dublin (Three Jellyfish) 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.

Gaudenzi uses Jellyfish to denote both the size and quality of his briars; as such, this three-Jellyfish bent Dublin is an impressive offering all around. While the bowl takes on the shape's signature flare with dramatic flourish in profile, the flanks actually remain quite close-knit overall, stretching the fore and aft and lending the rim a thick, ovoid shape. Said rim showcases a wealth of lovely birdseye, while tight tendrils of flame grain climb the flanks of the shank and bowl. A light, smooth finish accentuates these handsome grain patterns, and a concise, subtly bent stem of acrylic tops off the composition.