Hilson Solent 301 Smooth Straight Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Belgian Estates

Description

Hilson is something of an outlier in the pipe world, in that it is a successful company not from England, Denmark, France, the USA, or indeed any of the countries typically associated with pipe-making. Instead, Hilson is a pipe company that began in Belgium. Hilson was founded by the Hillen family in Bree in the late 19th century and went on to achieve considerable success during the mid-20th, before being bought out by Dutch company Gubbels. Given its geographical location, it should be no surprise that Hilson’s designs bear a mixture of French, German, and Danish influence. Before his passing, legendary artisan Rainer Barbi also designed pipes for the Belgian make. 

Strangely enough, this Solent reminds me a little of some of the billiards Hans ‘Former’ Nielsen makes. In other words, it’s quite a Danish billiard for the Belgian make to have offered. That is, except for one thing – this billiard has a stem remarkably similar to Peterson’s P-lip. It isn’t a replacement, either. Rather, all of Hilson’s Solent pipes seem to have had this feature. Like Savinelli, WDC, Vauen, and various other makes, Hilson seems to have flirted with stem designs that angle the smoke upwards to the roof of the mouth, rather than on the tongue. As any Peterson System fan will tell you, this does a good job of cooling the smoke and reducing tongue bite. Anyway, the pipe is quite gorgeous, being a tall, broad, army mount billiard with excellent flame grain around the bowl and bird’s-eye on the rim. If you like P-lips but are looking for something a little more muscular than Peterson usually offer, this might be the perfect pipe for you.

The condition is great. There’s some minor rim darkening, but the pipe has been otherwise well preserved by its previous owner.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.79″ / 45.46mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g