Ashton Sovereign (XXX) Smooth Rhodesian with Silver (New)

About this pipe:

Ashton is an English pipe brand, one originally created by William Ashton Taylor. Taylor worked at Dunhill from an early age, becoming one of the company’s most accomplished pipe makers. But Taylor was also one of a number of craftsmen and women who left Dunhill in the 1970s and 1980s, hoping to create something of their own. After experimenting with a couple of different projects, Taylor ultimately founded Ashton, a workshop for high-end, handmade pipes staffed by himself and other industry veterans like Frank Lincoln and Sid Cooper. Later, Taylor’s team were joined by another Dunhill alumnus, Jimmy Craig, who would take over the running of the workshop after Taylor’s sudden passing in 2009. Along with other workshops, such as Ferndown and James Upshall, Ashton would play a decisive role in the emergence of a new English high-grades scene in the late 20th century and beyond.

As is fairly typical of an artisan make, the majority of Ashton’s pipes are sandblasted, with just a few left in a smooth-polished state. The bar for a smooth pipe in the Ashton workshop, however, is a little higher than one might find elsewhere, owing to the special oil curing treatment that all Ashton pipes undergo during manufacture. While oil curing works wonders to season and remove impurities from briar, it also has a habit of exposing imperfections in said briar. Sandblasting can be used to minimize such imperfections, or even to utilize them for unique relief patterns; if a stummel is to be left smooth, on the other hand, it must be free from flaws, even after being cured over a period of several days. The Sovereign is comprised of pipes crafted from the finest stummels that are turned and cured in Ashton’s workshop, with their superior graining further highlighted by a simple, waxed finishing.

This one takes the form of a rather large Rhodesian in the traditional vein, with a sterling silver army mount and simple, timeless black ebonite mouthpiece.
Details:

Length: 6.51″ / 165.3mm

Chamber Width: 0.76″ / 19.30mm

Chamber Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Bowl Height: 1.69″ / 42.92mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 68g