Sean Reum Sandblasted Dublin w/ Ivorite Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Over the last decade, Sean Reum has emerged as one of North America’s most admired and in-demand pipe-makers, with his fans including, among many others, the one and only G.L. Pease. Having followed Reum’s career for many years, including catching a few glimpses of the artisan in his Montana workshop, I’m happy to say that his status in the pipe world is well-earned. A master carver of hand made pipes in the Scandinavian tradition, Reum has managed to secure a niche in the highly competitive artisan market through a combination of innovative designs and production techniques, a consistent, high quality output, and an almost unparalleled work ethic.

During and after the Second World War, briar was scarce, given that it is typically harvested from Europe’s Mediterranean regions. To make the most of what one had, and to avoid throwing away perfectly good bowls due to imperfect shanks, companies employed all sorts of shank extensions cut from other materials, with the most famous likely being bamboo. Even after the briar shortage ended, pipe makers continued to play with extensions of this sort, in part because they made for highly distinctive, elegant pieces (one personal favorite of mine being the Charatan After Hours). For this pipe, Sean Reum has continued that tradition, though doing so in a characteristically novel way. This Dublin begins with a crisp, ring grain black blast bowl, before transitioning to a shank extension cut from Ivorite. The stem, too, is cut from Ivorite (the tenon is Delrin), with a band of black briar collaring the shank end. While the pipe is a good 6 inches in length and very reasonable in chamber capacity, Reum’s use of a shank extension has, like the bamboo pipes before it, ended up being a featherweight, coming in at a mere 32 grams.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.72 / 18.28mm

Bowl Depth: 1.67″ / 42.41mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g