Vauen 1999 Pipe of the Year Bent Apple 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. 

Vauen’s annual Pipe of the Year (what the Germans call a “Jahrespfeife“) has always been a chance for the make to push boundaries. The shape is a bent apple, with a little bit of the organic aesthetic that Danish pipes often has; but at the same time, it has an industrial quality to it. In other words, it almost literally looks like a smoking machine, with each of its different design elements – its smooth rim, its rusticated shank, and its saddle, fantail stem, being parceled off by bright silver bands. Vauen’s Jahrespfeifen are notoriously hard to get, even in Europe, and older models are even more so. If you’re interested in the 2013 version – especially an unsmoked one – you’re unlikely to find one anywhere else for a long time, if ever.

This Vauen is completely unsmoked, with a factory-original bowl coating to help with the break-in process. The pipe also comes with its original presentation case and sleeve – which are a little weathered, so I’ve reduced the price a little. As with most Vauen pipes, this one is chambered for 9mm filters as standard, but the pipe would likely accommodate an adapter of some variety for non-filtered use. 

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.32″ / 33.52mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g