Chacom Volute Smooth Bent Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Chacom is one of France’s most historic and iconic makes. Its founders, the Comoy family, began their career as boxwood pipe-makers in the early 1800s, before briar had even been discovered, with Henri Comoy (of Comoy’s fame) emigrating to England in 1879 and founding the country’s first briar pipe factory. In 1922, Henri and his nephews, the Chapuis, founded the Chapuis Comoy pipe factory in Saint-Claude, France, which shortly after began producing pipes bearing the partnered families’ names – ‘Cha’ for Chapuis, and ‘Com’ for Comoy. Chacom has been the biggest name in French pipes ever since.

We’ve had a few of the Volute series come through in recent months, but this one is different. For a brief refresher: Chacom has, over the years, partnered with artisans and artists in other mediums to create new shapes for the make, including Tom Eltang an Pierre Morel. The Volute series, to which this pipe belongs, was Chacom’s first partnership with an outside designer, Claude Robin, in 1996. But all of the Volutes I’ve seen – both personally and “in the wild” – have been composed of two colors: a typical briar stain, such as dark or light brown, and black, with the latter comprising the shank and stem sections of the design. This one, on the other hand, swaps the black for a very striking red, which is seen in color of the stem and in the unorthodox stain used on the shank section. I have to assume that this was a limited-edition pipe within the already-limited Volute output. A very unique pipe indeed.

As an added bonus, this rare Volute is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating and its original sleeve. As with many Chacom pipes, it includes a stinger, but this stinger is designed to be easily unscrewed if the owner prefers not to use them. It will smoke just as well with or without one.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.25″ / 31.75mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g