Pipe Tristan Sandblasted “Shell” LC Bent Billiard Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

I used to say that Pipe Tristan’s Tristan Lefebvre was part of a “new wave” of “up-and-coming” artisans from France, the very birthplace of the briar pipe. But that description doesn’t do him justice these days. Lefebvre isn’t so much a “part” of the latest generation of French artisans as the craftsman leading the charge; likewise, he is no longer “up-and-coming,” but has already secured himself a place alongside historic compatriots such as Alain Albuisson, Paul Lanier, and Pierre Morel Sr and Jr. In fact, in 2025, he was inducted into the Confrérie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude, a prestigious French association of master pipe makers whose ranks have included Albuisson, Lanier, and Morel the younger.

In his latest batch of pipes for us, Tristan Lefebvre has included a number of renditions of a shape that he has recently become very well known for: the “LC.” Distinguished by its swan-neck curvature and tall, egg-like bowl, the Dunhill LC is among the most iconic shapes in traditional, Anglo-French design. It is a shape that has been the subject of studies in pipe history and one that artisans frequently test their mettle on, as it is by no means easy to get right. Lefebvre has been making such shapes infrequently for years, though lately he has been securing himself a place alongside other contemporary masters of the LC, including Michael Parks, Max Capps, and Gustavo Cunha of marTelo.

As for this one, it is perhaps the most “classical” LC rendition in Lefebvre’s latest batch. Faithful in both form and dress to a 1930s Dunhill Shell LC, it nonetheless surpasses the majority of interwar pipes by virtue of its thickly layered, ring grain sandblast.

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.99″ / 50.54mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g