Pipe Tristan Tan Sandblasted Poker w/ Durat 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.

The poker is a pipe shape whose popularity seems to come in waves, sometimes moving to the forefront of smokers’ interests, and other times receding into the background amidst the emergence of other more novel, modernist designs. Yet, like the cutty and the billiard, it never truly goes away, and for good reason: it is eminently functionalist, which is why, for example, it is a staple within Tom Eltang’s output. In other words, so long as the internals are sound, it’ll never let you down. Having handled dozens of Lefebvre’s pipes at this point, my faith in his engineering is unwavering. From the drilling of the draft hole, to the cut of the stem, to ensuring that design is balanced in a way that allows the pipe to be a sitter (or setter) without assistance, it is dead-on. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a little aesthetic appeal, too, though Lefebvre’s pokers have always had plenty of that. This particular rendition is dressed in a crisp, tan sandblast, focused on the sprawling bird’s-eye grain that covers its flanks. The pipe is further accented with Tristan’s current favorite material, the mineral-like Finnish Durat, whose flared profile swoops down into a seamless transition with the pipe’s hand-cut cumberland stem.

Details:

Length: 5.0″ / 127mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.31″ / 33.27mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g