Gregor Lobnik 4 Star Partially Sandblasted Acorn Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Gregor Lobnik is a Slovenian artisan pipe-maker, currently living in Kamnica, not far from the Slovenian-Austrian border. Lobnik was originally self taught, showing enough natural talent to be a runner-up in the 2004 Pipes & Tobaccos pipe carving contest. However, he would soon after take advantage of his particular geographical homebase to connect with another artisan one nation over: Peter Matzhold. Lobnik and Matzhold became good friends, with Matzhold also acting as something of a mentor to help Lobnik further his craft. Though Matzhold helped Lobnik refine his technique and was an influence on Lobnik’s style early on, Lobnik would ultimately cultivate a style far more of his own, one embodying a synthesis of Danish, Austrian, and Eastern European design philosophies. 

Gregor Lobnik no longer grades his pipes, save for a minuscule fraction of his output that receives the ultra-rare “Lightning” qualification. But when he did grade his pipes, he used a system based on stars. At the lowest end, there were his ungraded, typically rusticated, pipes; then there were his star-grade pipes. The number of stars a pipe could earn ran, ascending, from one to four, the latter being the highest-end pipes Lobnik produced at the time. I don’t think it would be a stretch to compare four-star pipes from the grading era to his current Lightning series, or at least somewhere near. Both have been few and far between, and both exhibit excellent shaping and graining. This stout, four-star acorn exhibits near-immaculate straight grain on its bowl, something further emphasized by the partial sandblasting and darker stain used for its shank.

This pipe is completely unsmoked and comes with its original sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.60″ / 40.64mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g