Stanwell Pipe of the Year 1991 Partially Sandblasted Horn w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked, 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. Between around 1990 and 2010, however, Stanwell fans were treated to not just one Pipe of the Year, but two. As Stanwell continued its push into the German market, one thing the company started doing was creating a parallel Pipe of the Year for that market. As German pipe smokers predominantly used 9mm filters (as most still do), Stanwell needed a Pipe of the Year that could be drilled to accommodate one, which had not typically been the case in years prior. So, Germans got one Pipe of the Year, and the rest of the world got the other. Since 2010, Stanwell has typically used a single design for both markets, with a thick enough shank to be drilled with a wider bore for filter users.

Stanwell’s German-market Pipe of the Year models are, today, far more scarce than their counterparts for a given year, as they were manufactured in lesser numbers than those counterparts. And they are also very much collectible, as many are in shapes that Stanwell has not manufactured elsewhere. This silver mounted horn (both on its rim and shank end) is not one I recall being reissued, and certainly not one I’ve seen often. Perhaps the closest Stanwell has ever come to releasing a properly Viking-style horn, it’s a large, hefty pipe, with an uncommon mixed finish and a crisp, ring grain sandblast to boot.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.48mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g