Jared Coles: Smooth Gondola Tobacco Pipe

The work of Japanese artisans has been an indelible influence on Jared Coles throughout his entire career. His appreciation of Hiroyuki Tokutomi and Takeo Arita in particular were reasons why he decided to make handmade pipes of his own, and Coles' portfolio regular honors Japanese pipe design. The Gondola is a signature Tokutomi shape that the American artisan has been experimenting with since 2023. The original form drew inspiration from its namesake canal vessel, and though Tokutomi rendered it a variety of ways, it's foundational aspects involved a Fan-like profile with a shank that curled slightly up and back toward the bowl.

While Coles has riffed on that foundational designs several times, this iteration sees the American carver introduce a distinctly different aspect: Instead of orienting the shank's trajectory back toward the bowl, he shaped its curl toward the stem. It makes for a sleek and aerodynamic — almost Fish-like — design whose curves and momentum now push the design dynamically forward. This piece is also considerably compact. The shank compressed and decorated with ridgelines that match its S-shaped design. Between these ridges, the shank feature concave panels that meet at the top in a point that's oriented slightly to the left when viewed from the smoker's perspective. Such shaping mirrors the rim which, likewise, features defining ridgelines coming to a point at the fore to meet the front's bifurcating ridge. Incredibly intricate and remarkably ornate, this Gondola expresses Coles' creativity and craftsmanship in grand display, further enhanced by the beautiful finish and the briar's stunning grain, with portions of plateau left to accent the left side.