Stanwell 1997 Pipe of the Year (German Market) Sandblasted Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates, 9mm

Description

Stanwell is one of Denmark’s most celebrated and enduring pipe companies, having been founded by Poul Nielsen shortly after the second world war. Over the last six decades, Stanwell has established itself as both a leader in innovative Danish design and for producing well-priced pipes with precision construction and engineering. Many of its designs were created for the company by iconic pipe-makers in the Scandinavian scene, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Anne Julie, Jess Chonowitsch, and Tom Eltang.

Since 1979, Stanwell has released an annual, limited edition “Pipe of the Year,” with the majority being designed—as is common for Stanwell pipes in general—by some of Denmark’s greatest pipe makers. Except, for 20 years, between around 1990 and 2009, Stanwell released not one, but two Pipe of the Year models. The reason for this? Germans. In the 1980s, Stanwell began a serious expansion into the German market, but this meant that many Stanwell pipes needed to undergo a redesign, as approximately 90% of German pipe smokers use filters (predominantly 9mm filters). Anyone familiar with Stanwell’s Pipe of the Year series from its first decade will know that those shapes, many of them being slight revamps of older Stanwell shapes, could not feasibly fit a 9mm filter, even if they were re-drilled. Stanwell instead chose to produce parallel series of PotY models, one having an unfiltered bore, the other having a 9mm bore to fit filters. The latter were predominantly marketed in Germany. This is the German Jahrespfeife for 1997, a really nice, partially sandblasted, quarter-bent bulldog with two silver bands. I confess that I’m not entirely sure who designed this one, having heard talk of it possibly being Poul Winslow, or even S. Bang, over the years. Regardless, it’s an excellent design, and the pipe itself is very much rare, given that the exclusive German market Pipe of the Year models were produced in far fewer numbers than the “standard” models.

The condition is good. Some handling marks and finish discoloration. The pipe, as mentioned, will allow for 9mm filters, or indeed an adapter if unfiltered use is preferred.

 

Details:

Length: 5.3″ / 134.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.55″ / 39.37mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g