Jean LaCroix Diamant 33G3, Smooth Panel Estate Briar Pipe, Handmade

Description

The Lacroix brand was founded in the 1960s in France, however its roots go back over a century, owing to the Lacroix family’s historic ties to pipe-making. Eugene Lacroix, for example, worked at the Delacour factory in the 19th century; his sons established a factory of their own; and his grandsons, Jean being one, created Jean Lacroix pipes. Today, Jean Lacroix himself is well known for his activities with the French  Confrérie des maîtres-pipiers de Saint-Claude, a kind of hall-of-fame organization for the world’s most accomplished pipe-makers, based in the birthplace of the briar pipe, Saint-Claude.

The foursquare is something of a forgotten shape in the English-French tradition. It’s not completely absent from contemporary pipe-making, but it’s not common, and the name has fallen out of fashion to the point where most would call this (as we have, for simplicity’s sake) a panel billiard. But here I will raise the banner of the mighty foursquare, with its four-paneled, eight-sided bowl, transitioning seamlessly into a four-sided shank and stem. While it may be traditional, it’s far from an easy shape to make – or, at least, to make well. I’m not sure if Jean Lacroix made this pipe himself as he did exclusively with his Nizza line, but the presence of Maitre Pipier on the shank, a term used by French makers signalling that the carver was a master pipe-maker (see, for example, Butz-Choquin), indicates that whoever made it was no novice in the JL workshop.

The condition is excellent. There are a couple of minor handling marks, a little inner rim darkening, and a few fills that have fallen out over time, but these are superficial imperfections on what is nevertheless a beautiful, classic French pipe.

Details:

Length: 6.7″

Bowl Width: 23.9mm

Bowl Depth: 1.9″

Weight: 2.1oz / 61g