Jared Coles Sandblasted Long Shank Egg Briar Pipe, New

Description

Jared Coles is a North American pipe-maker based in California. Coles is one of the undisputed masters of the contemporary American artisan scene, but that shouldn’t be surprising given the teachers he’s had. A pipe smoker since an early age, Coles discovered high-grade pipes while studying at college and took up pipe-making himself in 2008. Coles received precious instruction and advice on making his own high-grades from Jeff ‘J. Alan’ Gracik and Todd Johnson, with the Gracik continuing to provide guidance when Coles teamed up with his friend John Klose to found the collaborative J&J Pipes brand. J&J achieved significant success, but was dissolved in 2015, after which Coles and Klose continued to produce pipes under their own names.

I have to say, I really like this pipe. For me, when I look at a pipe like this, I can almost see a certain idea that has traveled across decades of pipe history, from Sixten Ivarsson to his son Lars, from Lars Ivarsson to Todd Johnson, and from Johnson to Coles – evolving as it moves and is reinterpreted by each carver. For all intents and purposes, this is a bent egg, and a Danish one at that, but it’s not your usual bent egg. The bowl is more slender and cutty-like, and the shank is similarly narrow, with the ‘bend’ itself being hardly a bend at all – perhaps a quarter- or eighth-bent. This allows the pipe to be fairly long, at over six inches, but surprisingly light, at around 43 grams.

The finish is simple and elegant, with a black stain and ebonite stem interrupted by a dash of white from its shank ring. The sandblasting is expertly executed – it is fairly light, but still manages to draw out the ring grain of the briar perfectly. The kiss of plateau on the rim is the proverbial cherry on top. A true Danish-American masterwork.

Details:

Length: 6.2″

Bowl Width: 21.0mm

Bowl Depth: 2.1″

Weight: 1.5oz / 43g