Bruno Nuttens: Heritage Sandblasted Rhodesian (H3) Tobacco Pipe

Though he was born in Belgium, Bruno Nuttens calls France home, moving there after attending university to study literature. In 2012, Nuttens purchased a collection of old estate pipes with the intent to keep only one, however, he thought it would be a terrible waste to dispense with the rest. To avoid this waste, Nuttens began restoring the pipes, leading to a career as a respected and prolific pipe restorer, reviving over 7,000 pipes in the proceeding six years and becoming intimately familiar with their craftsmanship and acquiring an eye for artistic shaping. After being inducted into the Confrérie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude in 2013, Nuttens began making pipes, inspired and assisted by fellow inductee Pierre Morel. Bruno continued to restore pipes over the next few years, making pipes as a side business until 2018, when he refocused to carve them full-time. Later bolstered by instruction from Tom Eltang, Nuttens has made a name for himself as a maker of high-quality pieces which draw inspiration from the French, Danish, and German schools of carving.

Along with his artisan pipes, Nuttens additionally crafts a range of serialized pieces which lean more heavily on the classic French aesthetic, such as the Heritage line seen here. The Heritage series consists of vintage-styled pieces that showcase the clean line work and streamlined profiles inherent to French shape-chart classics. Presented here is a lithe Rhodesian that pairs a robust, forward-canted bowl to a protracted stretch of shank and stem — a willowy rendition of the often muscular shape. Additionally, the color palette is archetypal as well, as the stem is fashioned from jet-black acrylic and the stummel is dressed in a chestnut-stained sandblast. Moreover, Nuttens grades his Heritage pipes on an ascending scale from H1 to H4, with this piece boasting his H3 grade.