Ben Wade Matt Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked [SOLD OUT]

Description

While Ben Wade was a historic British pipe brand, for a time during the 1970s, production of Ben Wade pipes was contracted out to one of Danish pipe-making’s superstars: Preben Holm. Though he would tragically pass away at the age of 42, Holm was one of the pioneering figures in the ‘Danish design’ movement in 20th century pipe-making, a movement that still dominates the high-grade pipe scene. By hand-shaping his pipes on a belt sander, Holm was able to make the most of the patterns of grain hidden within briar, creating spectacular works of pipe art that looked just as well as they smoked. Owing to Holm’s untimely passing, his pipes are even more highly sought after than they were during his lifetime.

As might be expected, the ‘Matt’ line of Preben Holm’s pipes was a matte finish. Matte finishes don’t work on all pipes – you need really nice grain to pull it off, otherwise the pipe can look dull. Thankfully, Holm was a master when it came to ‘chasing the grain,’ so the design of this Ben Wade works perfectly. It’s actually quite awe-inspiring to see what can be done with briar left almost entirely to its own devices. The shaping is masterful too, with a clear intention of allowing the briar’s natural straight grain to speak for itself, while also utilizing bare plateau in quite distinct ways around the front and back edges of the rim.

Remarkably, this Ben Wade is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating from Holm’s workshop, which should help ease in the pipe’s first smokes. There’s a little residual oxidation on the stem where we have made sure to preserve the Ben Wade logo, but the pipe is otherwise immaculate.

 

Details:

Length: 7.2″

Bowl Width: 23.1mm

Bowl Depth: 1.2″

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g