Vauen Diplomat 1 Smooth Zulu Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked, 9mm

Description

Vauen stems from Germany’s oldest tobacco pipe manufacturing company, tracing its roots back to the founding partnership of Karl Ellenberger and Carl August Ziener in Nuremberg, 1848. Out of the Ellenberger-Ziener partnership soon came the Vauen make itself, which grew to become Germany’s largest and most enduring pipe brand – a title that it continues to hold to this day.

While Denmark is perhaps most famous for its forward-thinking, avant-garde pipe designs (with Japan coming in close second), Vauen also has a remarkably innovative streak, one that is perhaps underappreciated in comparison to others in the industry. The Diplomat is one of a number of relatively recent, limited-edition collaborations between Vauen and celebrated German industrial designer Markus Bruckner (other examples being the Vauen Diamond, the Series V, and the Oskar). Bruckner’s design philosophy is difficult to condense into a simple pipe listing, but one might summarize it as being post-functionalist, synthesizing functionalism’s driving emphasis on practical considerations with a recognition that the “aesthetic” experience of an object is itself part of that practicality. But Bruckner is also a minimalist, simultaneously advocating for a kind of “restrained” design ethos. It’s one of those things that would be fascinating to hear more about from the man himself, but for now we’ll have to settle for looking at the pipe itself, which is a very interesting kind of Zulu (or, more accurately, a kind of yachtsman). Even from a distance, it’s a pipe whose shaping is very evidently tailored with hand-feel in mind, with a distinctiveness that is not so much so that it detracts from the pipe’s purpose. On a side note, we’re quite lucky to have had this one come in as part of a new old stock lot, as its limited run ended many years ago.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. As with most Vauen pipes, it is chambered to allow for the use of 9mm filters if desired. We’re quite lucky to have had this one come in as part of a new old stock lot, as its limited run ended many years ago.

 

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.38″ / 35.05mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g