Rusticated Tomato (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. 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 brand name itself a reference to the legendary underwater city of the same name.

The size and quality of Valbruna pipes are denoted by Jellyfish; as such, this three-Jellyfish Tomato certainly makes a lasting impression. The bowl is exceptionally squat, even by Tomato standards, and crouches at the fore of a particularly lengthy, oblong shank. A sleekly tapered stem tops off the composition, and a dark, rugged rustication dresses the stummel, with only a few scant slips of smooth, pale briar peeking through for a pop of textural and tonal contrast. Whimsically proportioned and striking in finish, this Tomato is sure to appeal to fans of the Pesaro carving style.