Geiger Contrast Draconian Belly Flop Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Geiger pipes are special in a number of ways. They possess a near-unrivaled precision and creativity, which they also manage to combine without either undermining the other. They are also, as a consequence, among the most coveted pipes on the high-grade scene, commanding exactly the prices one would expect for such desirable works. If you’re an old romantic like me, however, the most special thing about Geiger pipes is that they are the fruits of a rare kind of partnership in the pipe world: that of husband and wife. All Geiger pipes are made by Love Geiger and Sara Mossberg, making them one of the few examples in the pipe world of creative collaboration bound by not only a shared passion and craft, but also matrimony.

At the risk of dragging myself into a longstanding (and, admittedly, typically light-hearted), broader intra-Scandinavian feud, I still find it a little funny that “Danish” pipe making as we know it is, essentially, a Swedish invention, and that many of the most significant figures within the history of “Danish design” have in fact been Swedes (or, at least, biologically descended from one). The two Swedes who, arguably, started it all were Sixten Ivarsson and Bo Nordh if we wanted to ask who among today’s pipe makers could be considered the true “heir” to Nordh, it would—again, arguably—be Love and Sara of Geiger. This is not simply because they are from Sweden, either; Nordh’s inventiveness and willingness to push the boundaries of pipe design exceeded even that of Ivarsson, with the result being numerous, hitherto inconceivable designs that would soon become artisan staples, such as the Nautilus and the Ramses. It is that same spirit that one finds in Geiger (incidentally, one of the few shapes that Nordh prototyped, but was never able to perfect, was later redesigned by Love and Sara, birthing the “BoDog”). This pipe, for example, is Geiger shape known as the “Draconian Belly Flop.” Blending elements of the cobra, the sphinx, and the fish, it uses the single, curved plane of its “base” and “front” to dazzle the eyes with bird’s-eye patterns, and its sides to showcase a fanning of cross-grain. Perhaps most impressive is the appropriateness of its given name; the design does indeed give the effect of sprawling forward motion, with its left flank carved in the image of a coiled tail.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original leather sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5″ / 127.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g