Vauen 6886 Smooth Billiard 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.    

We’ve received a few NOS (new old stock) Vauen pipes recently. It’s been a great time capsule into the Vauen pipes of old. One thing I’ve noticed, is that the older Vauen series – like this one – focused less on bold and ostentatious finishes, and more on simpler, classical designs. This included – as this Vauen does – using traditional stains that would highlight the quality of the briar underneath. This Vauen, for example, has some beautiful bird’s-eye grain patterns. That’s not to say that contemporary Vauen pipes are bad or poorly grained, but I suppose I’m partial to the classics. The shape of this one is a traditional – though broad in the German style – pot, with a brass collar and a flared stem. Curiously, this one also has an original P-lip style stem, rather than a standard fishtail. This was more common a practice in the 20th century than it is today, one that other makes, such as Hilson and Savinelli also explored.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl. As with most Vauen pipes, it is chambered for 9mm filters, such as Vauen’s own or Savinelli’s balsa filters. It should also accommodate some variety of adapter for non-filter use, if the user prefers.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.73″ / 43.94mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g