Imagine this: a perfect moment occurs while scrolling through Smokingpipes. The stars align, you're in your comfiest spot on the couch, and you find the pipe. Not just any pipe... your grail pipe. Today a few of my colleagues share their first grail pipe experiences as collectors and what made the discovery so special for them.

Chris Herath's Grail Pipe

Chris Herath, Marketing Manager, remembers his first grail pipe well. "It was a Former straight Apple with a silver mount," he says. "Since I began working at Smokingpipes and delved into Danish pipe making, Former's work always captivated me. I admire his approach to classic shapes, and when people think of Former pipes, they often associate them with his impeccable execution of the Apple shape."

As he considered acquiring a "grail" pipe, both Shane Ireland and Truett Smith recommended Former as an ideal candidate. "However, when I started searching for a Former Apple with a silver mount to be available on the website, it immediately sold out, which left me disappointed. But a week or so later, I revisited the site and discovered that the same pipe had resurfaced." Naturally, he added it to his cart, and the rest is history.

"My favorite aspect of this experience isn't the pipe itself," he says, "but rather the fact that Hans 'Former' Nielsen has dedicated nearly 65 years to crafting pipes. I am truly impressed by the unwavering dedication that individuals can have for a craft that spans such a long time!"

Joe Fabian's Grail Pipe

Joe Fabian, Territory Sales Representative of the Northeast at Laudisi Distribution Group, shared that he didn't develop a taste for high-end pipes prior to working here. "I was aware of them, of course," he says, "but had only seen a few in person. Most were in the hands of older pipe club members back at my home shop in Pennsylvania."

Around 2009-2010, Savinelli made a special run of the Punto Oro called the Silver Army Mount. "They were all that warm black sandblast you see on a Punto Oro Gold today, but they featured silver ferrules, skinny waists, and thin, elegantly tapered stems more reminiscent of something Adam Davidson would carve as opposed to a major European factory. I was in love with the line."

When they were discontinued by Savinelli, Joe asked Luca Fontana, Savinelli's export manager at the time, about ordering one in his favorite shape, the 313 back then. "He informed me that they had never been made. Then he followed that with saying something like: 'But that would be a very nice pipe. We'll put one together.' A few months later, my favorite Savinelli I've ever had came in, and I've been smoking the heck out of it ever since."

Steve Mawby's Grail Pipe

Steve Mawby, Director of Sales, was overjoyed to discover a pipe that checked all of the boxes for what he was looking for at the time. "My first grail pipe was a Group 1 Dunhill," he says, "specifically an 1110 Liverpool in the Chestnut finish."

He was drawn to smaller bowls and Billiard variants, particularly Lovats and Liverpools, as he was first getting into pipe smoking. "I had been on the lookout for a Dunhill in a Group 1 size, but it took a bit of time to come across one that caught my eye. When this one came along, I bought it right away and it became a mainstay of my rotation for a couple years afterward."

John McElheny's Grail Pipe

John McElheny, Pipe Specialist, admittedly has not been a pipe smoker for nearly as long as his other compatriots at Smokingpipes, starting around five years ago. "However, I have found myself entrenched in the hobby," he says, "due to the rich history and myriad shaping traditions that have developed, either independently or with influence from other schools, through the work of pipe makers across the world.

"The thought that so many disparate ideas of what a pipe is or could be, unified around what is, at first glance, a seemingly simple tube meant to burn leaves, is positively enthralling. I've watched my tastes change not only through the smoking habits I've developed, but by bearing witness to the nearly boundless expanse of finishes and silhouettes peppered throughout the pipe world." For these reasons, his idea of what qualifies as a "grail" pipe has changed over the years, spanning countries, shapes, design tradition, and so forth as he has learned about, smoked, appraised, and described pipes.

"To me, the 'grail' pipe occupies an inherently unstable position within anyone's collection, barring those truly singular masterworks whose workmanship and concept can hardly be approached, let alone replicated. Once a person acquires their grail, there is no guarantee it will stay in that position of prominence; it exists as a grail only thus far." In essence, there may well be a similar piece made by a maker a collector appreciates more, or a totally different one that speaks to them more intensely. "The only thing that's truly consistent about what a grail pipe is, is that, for some reason, to the person who owns it, it is special. It may not be the most special pipe that person owns, it may not even be an exceptional pipe, but for some reason, to that person, it is special."

For these reasons, he doesn't quite believe he owns a grail pipe. "But I do own a number of pipes I consider special, and that occupy my thoughts every moment I even consider lighting a bowl."

His Tomato/Prince by Ryan Alden that he purchased more than four years ago was the first new artisan piece he ever bought. "Initially, I was attracted to the shape, as I'm a deeply committed lover of squat, rotund bowls, and that has not changed, but, as the years have passed, I've found my appreciation for the pipe growing. It's one of the few pipes whose flaws, if any, I am utterly and unashamedly blind to.

"To me, the piece is the platonic ideal of what a Tomato should be: plump and affable, and followed by a stunningly lithe shank and stem with just the right amount of curve through the two. It is the first pipe I bought that I held on to for longer than a year or two, and there has never been a moment I was dissatisfied with it."

However, it is still not what he would consider a grail. "It fits in incredibly well with my collection, almost unassuming among my other Cumberland-style pipes unless I point it out. My grail would need to be a true centerpiece, it would need to be a piece that doesn't only occupy my thoughts, but nearly consumes me with visions of its splendor.

"I have seen scant few such pieces, but the one that comes to mind most readily for me is actually one that I've seen since I first explored the site." It's a piece by Hiroyuki Tokutomi, a "Hiro" grade Horn with a stand and tamper — one of the most stunning works he has ever seen. He hasn't stopped thinking about it since he first saw it, but it is also a pipe he doesn't think he will ever possess.

"Perhaps that is part and parcel of the mystique of the 'grail' pipe, at least for me, being pipes that can always exist as supreme ideals of themselves, kept eternally as exemplars held on the pedestal of the mind to be revered. I may never own a grail pipe, never find that singular piece at the right time to possess it myself, but I will always have the idealized memory of those that could have been. And with that, I am satisfied."

Joel Fruits' Grail Pipe

Joel Fruits, Merchandizing Manager, decided a few years ago that it was time to begin seeking out rarer pieces for his collection. "I had been smoking a pipe for nearly two decades," he says, "and, as is the case with many collectors, I decided a great place to start was with a birth year Dunhill. I started searching and for many months I was unable to find a Dunhill from my birth year, and the ones that were close did not appeal to me aesthetically."

One day while he was checking Smokingpipes, he saw a Dunhill bearing the correct stamping added to the English Estates section. "Not only was this pipe the correct year, but to my delight, it also was stamped as a Root Briar. If you are not aware, Root Briars have been sought out by collectors ever since they first debuted in 1931 due to the fact that each pipe must have briar completely free of even the most minor of blemishes."

This piece is a bent Bulldog with an elongated bowl. "Though I am not too picky about shapes, the fact that this piece was a departure from Dunhill's standard offerings made the purchase an easy decision. If you were to look at my collection, this pipe may appear unassuming, as it lacks some of the visual flair of other pieces, but it is one of my favorite pipes and I look forward to passing it down to the next generation."

The Collector's First Grail Pipe

A grail pipe means something different to every pipe smoker. No matter the maker, design, or year made, a collector's first grail find is special simply because of the thrill of the discovery. I'd love to know what your first "grail" piece was in the comments below.