Grechukhin G Grade 60th Birthday Limited Edition Estate Briar Pipe, Other Estates

Description

In recent decades, Saint Petersburg has emerged as a hub for the production of some of the world’s finest and most sought-after pipes, securing a place alongside such cities as London, Copenhagen, and Tokyo. In fact, there is now recognized to be a “Saint Petersburg school” of pipe making, with its own, distinct style and lineages among its members. The grand master at the center of this school was Vladimir Grechukhin. Grechukhin was born under the Soviet regime and was originally educated in fine arts, before a meeting with the foremost pipe maker in the Soviet Union, Alexei Borisovitch Fyodorov, led him down that same path. His apprenticeship under Fyodorov and the collapse of the Soviety Union provided Grechukhin with both the training required to become a skilled pipe maker and the international competition required to become a true master—or else fall into oblivion. Thankfully, Grechukhin did anything but disappear and conquered the international stage, while also taking on apprentices of his own. These apprenticeships would also give rise to the PS Studio make, a collaborative effort between Grechukhin and his former students Alexander Tupitsyn and Sergey Dyomin. Vladimir Grechukhin retired from pipe making in 2021, though his exploits—including his solo work, his PS Studio venture, and his collaborations with figures such as J. Alan—have ensured that his legacy will outlive us all.

I have not had the chance to get an up close and personal look at a Grechukhin pipe before, in part because certain contemporary shifts in international relations (to put it as succinctly and as impartially as possible) have meant that purchasing new pipes from the master and his compatriots have become very difficult (Grechukhin even more so due to his retirement). Another reason, of course, is that people don’t tend to want to give up their Grechukhins, but I digress… In any case, this particular Grechukhin is a rather special one. For one thing, it is a pipe that earned the rare “G” grade that Grechukhin uses to differentiate his very best pipes. But, it is also a “birthday pipe.” See, every few years. Grechukhin celebrated another year on this earth by continuing to make pipes in his workshop, while also setting aside a select few that he considered to be especially extraordinary, even compared to the rest of his output. These pipes were accorded the “G” grade and stamp, while also bearing a stamp signifying the age he had turned around the time of its making. If memory serves, Grechukhin was born around 1950, meaning this one was made around 2010. I’m not sure how many G60 pipes were produced, but I know that only seven G65 pipes were produced for Grechukhin’s 65th birthday around 2015, so I presume it was a similarly small number. One thing’s for sure, though—this straight grain egg is a real beaut.

The condition is great. very minor inner rim darkening and slight handling marks. A collector’s dream.

Details:

Length: 4.8″ / 121.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.45″ / 36.83mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g