Bentley by Former Sandblasted Bent Egg Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

If you’re familiar with high-grade pipes – especially those from Denmark – you’ll likely have at least heard of Hans “Former” Nielsen. Former began his career, aged 15, repairing pipes for Poul Rasmussen at Suhr’s Pibemageri. Later, Former was referred to the W.O. Larsen workshop by Rasmussen, where – after an examination by Sven Knudsen, who had designed many early Larsen models – he was recruited as a fully-fledged pipe-maker. Within his 10 years at Larsen, Former rose to the rank of workshop supervisor, having his own apprentices of the likes of Teddy Knudsen and Tonni Nielsen. In the years since, Former’s primary output has been in pipes under his own name, but there have been a few notable exceptions, such as the Bentley make. From the mid-1980s to sometime in the 2000s, Former developed high-grade pipes that were manufactured, with various teams and at various locations, under the Bentley make.

Most Bentley brand pipes are Swiss made and are stamped as such. In those cases, Former designed the pipe and oversaw its production, but manufacture was undertaken by workers at the Bentley factory in Switzerland. But Bentley pipes did not stop being produced after Former left the country and returned to Denmark. Instead, he returned from Switzerland with some of the machinery used to replicate Bentley pipes in his luggage, and subsequently made the Bentley pipes himself for a short while. This particular Bentley is one of those pipes, making it an ideal way to get your hands on a Former pipe at a more affordable price.

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

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.71 / 18.03mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g