Buckeye Hand Made Contrast Sandblasted Ballerina Briar Pipe, New

Premal Chheda’s Buckeye Pipes have undergone several significant changes since their debut in the mid-2000s. Chheda himself was one of the first major players in 21st century American artisan briars, having been taught the fundamentals of high-grade pipe making by Mike Butera, and having had plenty of students of his own in the time since. Though Buckeye started out as an sub-brand for pipes that did not quite meet the standard of a pipe stamped with the Chheda name, the two would ultimately become different projects entirely. Today’s Buckeye Pipes are, instead, high-quality briars produced by Premal Chheda and his apprentices. The difference between a Chheda Pipe, or one of the pipes made by Chheda’s apprentices under their own name, and a Buckeye pipe boils down to the level of detailing involved: Buckeye Pipes are precision engineered and expertly finished, while being more minimalist in design and less labor-intensive in execution than their counterparts.

The “ballerina” is one of the many shapes first created by legendary Swedish artisan Bo Nordh, one that, like almost every shape designed by Nordh, would live on forever through the tributes and studies of artisans around the globe. This one, from Premal Chheda and Chris Mattioda at Buckeye, switches things up a little bit by adding a healthy measure of Buckeye Pipes’ signature heft, while retaining unmistakable the “en pointe” figure of Nordh’s original.

Details:

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.70 / 17.78mm

Bowl Depth: 1.97″ / 50.03mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g