For those who have been following Smokingpipes for the past many years, you're probably aware that every year we hold an annual American Pipe-Making Exposition. The idea behind the American Pipe-Making Exposition was to give American carvers a theme to work with that allowed them to submit a single piece of work. It really gives them a chance to flex their creative muscles, to show off the craft and the tips and tricks that they've learned over the years and create something really special. This would mark the 10th anniversary of the American Pipe-Making Exposition.

For the 10th anniversary, we have decided to do something different to celebrate: the American Pipe-Making Exposition will henceforth be known as the Global Pipe-Making Exposition. That's right. Not only will our American pipe carvers be submitting pieces this year, we have invited pipe carvers from all over the world that we work with to submit an entry this year. We also found it fitting to return to the original theme from 10 years ago, which is bamboo in pipe making. We have invited all of our pipe makers from all over the globe to contribute to this exposition and submit something extra special. So let's see what they submitted for us.

Askwith Sandblasted Bamboo Billiard

Chris Askwith, an artisan out of Plymouth, England, has sent us a very traditional shape, but one that's very different in terms of materials. In silhouette, you can tell it's a very classic English straight Billiard, but Chris fashioned this out of bamboo laminate, so the texture is super unique. The grain is obviously very different from briar. However, to keep the smoking properties consistent to what we expect from a briar pipe, he's lined the chamber with briar, so it smokes the same as a briar pipe, and he's also lined the airway of the shank with briar as well. So all of the smoking properties are that of a briar pipe, but aesthetically speaking, it's completely different. It's really interesting in its use of bamboo. And to top it all off, he's fitted it to one of his signature polyester stems, which matches really well with the lighter tones of the bamboo.

Ping Zhan Smooth Acorn with Bamboo and Boxwood

Ping Zhan's entry is a really beautiful and organic piece, very much in his style, which plays a lot on the Danish shaping cues, with very soft lines. It's worth noting that Ping for many years has been known for what he calls his horn-carved bamboo, which is essentially a horn shank extension that he meticulously and very intricately carved to resemble bamboo. I'm talking like individual nodes. He goes through so much to evoke the appearance of bamboo as authentically as possible, all while using an alternative material. What he's done here is taken that a step further. We have an actual piece of lovely dark bamboo in the middle, on the saddle stem, as well as where the junction is between the briar shank and the bamboo itself. He has carved really detailed bamboo nodes to mimic the rhythm of the bamboo. There's a lot of cool, intricate details he used to frame the bamboo using both briar and vulcanite to continue the rhythm in both directions. The detail work here is amazing.

Yang Kun Partially Sandblasted Dancer with Bamboo

All right, up next from China, we have Yang Kun with a really impressive interpretation of the Dancer shape. This piece is like a functional sculpture. He's actually created this carved foot with ridge lines and it's sandblasted, which gives it this nice juxtaposition against the smooth bowl. This wave-like structure holds the whole piece up. And then, of course, to fit into the bamboo theme, we have this really beautiful piece of tapering Buddha Belly bamboo. It's really dynamic and beautiful. And of course it is one of his signature grades, so the grain on this thing is absolutely killer.

Michael Parks Bamboo Branch with Leaf on Jade (Five Leaf)

Next up we have a Bamboo Branch with Leaf on Jade from Michael Parks. What a piece, where do we begin? We'll start with the bamboo. He's calling this a bamboo branch. And while these two pieces of bamboo are pretty gnarly, the symmetry in them is really impressive, naturally flowing. Also, this leaf is incredible. It's partially sandblasted on the bottom, with really nice rings on that. And this super tight bird's eye on top is nothing short of incredible. To top it off, this magnetic stand is made entirely of jade. Michael knocked it out of the park. This received his Five Leaf designation and fully deserves it, and I'm sure it will be going to a happy home.

marTelo Smooth Jatobá with Bamboo and Jupati

Gustavo Cunha, the artisan behind marTelo pipes, has sent us a beautiful version of his signature Jatobá shape. The showcase here is obviously this section of six knuckles of bamboo that are very tight knit, but evenly spaced, which is a rarity in bamboo as an organic material. You don't get that sort of consistency in the knuckles, but Gustavo has found a very consistent, beautiful piece of bamboo to adorn this pipe. And the briar itself is a stunning showcase of natural briar grain too. We've got perfect cross grain down both sides to frame a bird's eye for an aft in a stunning display. And he's done a really nice job of keeping the color palette consistent and striking.

We've got a vulcanite stem that's this honey mustard hue matching really well with the bamboo. And he's also put another piece of that vulcanite on the other end to keep everything harmonious. Then lastly, he's done an accent of Jupati nut, which is indigenous to Brazil and something you see a lot of in marTelo's work.

Sabina Santos Natural Smooth Calabash with Bamboo, Mammoth, and Pearls (G)

Sabina Santos's entry is a Calabash with bamboo extension and mammoth cap on the Calabash, and also mammoth on the end of the shank. We have two actual pearl inlays in the nodes of the bamboo. And what I really like about this is the rhythm of the whole thing. It really marries a very traditional pipe shape, which is the Calabash and even the color palette, the natural briar and the bamboo sort of mimic the gourd color. There's also very modern touches, such as the saddle stem, the way that the end of the shank is turned, and obviously the contrast between the natural tones of the bamboo and the natural briar, and the really interesting and complex tones that you find in the mammoth accent. I would say that Calabashes are definitely a signature of Sabina's. This one ended up with her top grade, which is the G, and it's absolutely deserving of that.

Dirk Heinemann Bamboo-Carved Tuban with Juma

German artisan Dirk Heinemann has presented us with a special version of one of his signature shapes, the Tuban. As the name denotes, it's a very tubular pipe design. It almost doesn't even look like a pipe, it looks more like a cigar or something like that. It's very cylindrical with a slight curve in the middle. But in fitting with this Expo's theme, he has carved the briar to resemble bamboo. So even though it looks very much like a section of bamboo, albeit a very large section, it is in fact briar that Dirk meticulously hand carved to resemble the aesthetic of bamboo. It's a really small pipe, too, so it's perfect for travel. He's topped it off with a hand-cut stem of Juma, so there's a nice contrast with the white stem.

Kurt Balleby Smooth Ballerina with Bamboo

Kurt Balleby's entry is a shape that he's very familiar with and that he's well known for: the Ballerina, an elegant shape, very complex, with an upright nature and intricate line work. There's a juxtaposition here of such a complex form with also four beautiful knuckles of bamboo. I really like the play that you have between soft but intricate lines and this very organic material. I think that it lends an added air of elegance to an already elegant shape, and the execution here is just stunning.

Tsuge Ikebana Sandblasted 'Kiseru' with Bamboo (J)

And now from Japan, we have another entry, and this is from the Tsuge Ikebana workshops, specifically made by the wonderful artisan Asami Kikuchi. This piece not only incorporates bamboo in what I think is a very iconic approach to Japanese pipe making, but it also is a nod to one of the most iconic forms in Japanese pipe-making tradition, and that's the Kiseru. The Kiseru is a very light, shorter smoke, and Asami here has scaled that up to briar pipe proportion. We have a larger bowl, it's this beautiful Acorn or Pear-like shape, and then this wonderful stretch of four knuckles of bamboo. But what's really interesting to me here is the stem work. It's this really cool tulip shape, which you often find on the mouthpieces of Kiserus. It's a wonderful interpretation, taking that iconic Japanese form and translating it into a briar pipe. It's just a really spectacular piece.

J. Mouton Partially Sandblasted Pickaxe with Bamboo and Horn (J)

Mouton's entry into this year's Expo is really unique. It is a partially sandblasted Pickax with two horn accents that beautifully accent this piece of bamboo he used for the shank, which is a really craggy piece of bamboo, but it's a beautiful color with a symmetry that flows perfectly with this shape. I also love this revealing bird's eye on the forefront of the Pickax bowl. I love this pipe, and I think J. Mouton knocked it out of the park.

Pete Prevost Natural Partially Sandblasted Volcano with Bamboo

American carver Pete Prevost has sent us this really fun full-bent Volcano. I don't think I've ever said the words full bent and Volcano in the same sentence, but it's a Volcano with an Oom Paul sort of bend to it. And much of that length of shank and stem is comprised of this three knuckled piece of bamboo. It's fitted to a really well-shaped stummel. It's one of Pete's recognizable Volcano renditions with a little flare at the heel there. And it's also a beautiful piece of briar. He was able to get a natural sandblast out of it, but also left the bottom completely smooth and unstained for a very natural virgin finish with a little kiss of plateau right there. One of my favorite aspects of this piece is how Pete incorporated the stem into the overall composition. If you look at it up close, you can tell how he shaped the stem base to mirror the shaping of the end of the bamboo. It's a really nice subtle touch that brings the whole design together.

Nanna Ivarsson Smooth Tomato with Bamboo

Nanna Ivarsson has submitted something incredibly singular. I think the effect overall is amazing. What we have here is one of her signature shapes, and not only does it utilize a bamboo shank extension, but the bowl itself is crafted from cast pieces of bamboo with a briar insert. So basically what you end up with is this amazing cross section that mimics the grain of briar, where you have straight grain running along the side and bird's eye on the bottom and the top. You really get to see a lot of detail in the bamboo itself because of the shaping. It's super detailed and complex, and it's worth noting that the briar insert is also made from bone noire briar. The color interplay between the bamboo cast and the resin, the briar itself and the bamboo, makes it stunning. I've never seen anything like this before.

Wandi Riyadi Smooth Naga with Bamboo

Indonesian carver Wandi Riyadi has sent us a pipe that's stunning in terms of its bamboo as well as the shaping of its briar. He has called it the Naga, which means dragon in the Bahasa language, which is the official language of his home country of Indonesia and fittingly, he has shaped this bowl to be in the shape of a dragon's head. It's absolutely crazy and beautiful. I'm going to let it speak for itself. We've got horns. He's carved a line for the mouth. I mean, the intricacy of it is spectacular and the grain is also beautiful, but the bamboo really takes center stage.

It's an incredibly unique and complex piece of bamboo with really asymmetrical nodes and unparallel lines throughout it. And it's all very compressed, like someone took a regular piece of bamboo and just pressed it accordion style. As a nice final touch, the end is regular vulcanite and Wandi has incorporated that into the stem base as well, so that it lines up perfectly and brings the whole design together.

Konstantin Shekita Bamboo Calabash with Mammoth

Konstantin is a pipe maker who is known for innovation in his carving, in his presentation, and by the great lengths he will go to as a craftsperson to create something that we've never seen before. I think that this Bamboo Calabash is no exception. What we have here is one massive and gnarly bent piece of bamboo, which is natural and has a briar bowl fitted to it, a Calabash cooling chamber, and a mammoth shank extension with a traditional vulcanite stem. The silhouette of this pipe alone is enough to grab your attention from across the room. And I love how much bamboo he's incorporated into this design and how much he's kept true to the natural form of that bamboo.

Alex Florov Smooth Volcano with Bamboo

Next up, we have a killer piece from Alex Florov. As you guys know, Alex is very well versed in the asymmetrical and sculptural forms, which are very evocative shapes. And for this year's entry, he submitted a really cool Volcano. Alex has made a lot of Volcanoes in the past, but this one is super neat. It's low slung, so the actual bowl itself is squat and broad, but it's got this really cool teardrop-like asymmetry. But I think, of course, the showpiece here is this giant shank of Buddha Belly bamboo. And it's super cool, like all the nodules work to add a natural elegance to it. And I think the way he's handled the stem, playing on that asymmetry, curling it back to the other side is just really neat. It's got a little bit of plateau at the bottom, serving as a natural juxtaposition there against all of the wild bird's eye.

Bill Shalosky Sandblasted Bamboo Cavalier

And next up we have a beautiful Cavalier from our good friend Bill Shalosky of BriarWorks fame. This is a sandblasted Cavalier, obviously with a bamboo shank. This is a functioning Cavalier. This foot actually comes off and is beautifully engineered, smoothly in and out, and very dark brown bamboo is used here as opposed to some lighter stuff that you usually see. And it just flows beautifully with this Cavalier and that color palette works super well with this signature stain and sandblast that Bill does. Form and function is embodied in this pipe, and I'm sure it'll make a beautiful smoker for somebody.

Tine Balleby Smooth Sphinx with Bamboo

Danish artisan Tine Balleby has presented us with this beautiful sphinx design, obviously elongated by a really nice section of four knuckles of bamboo. The Sphinx is one of those shapes that can take a lot of different forms, but generally speaking, it has this central ridge line that cuts the bowl in half here. And for this particular version, Tine's really emphasized that line. She's scalloped the front end right here to call to mind its namesake when looking at it head on. And the briar's beautiful, with cross grain running down the middle, and bird's eye framed on either side. The final touch that I really enjoy is how she's balanced the saddle portion of the stem with the rhythm of the bamboo knuckles — If you were to look at this in silhouette, the stem base would actually appear like it was one of the four knuckles of bamboo, making it look like five knuckles of bamboo. So it's a really elegant, refined piece.

J. Alan Smooth Whiplash with Bamboo and Ivorite (with Stand)

Jeff Gracik of J. Alan Pipes has contributed something extremely special to the Exposition: a piece that he calls the Whiplash. Why the Whiplash? Basically what we have here is a super dynamic and fluid take on the Elephant's Foot with a bamboo extension. I know I've thrown the word dynamic out a couple of times, but I don't know a better way to describe it. It has a gorgeous piece of bamboo that is beautiful in color, with 10 knuckles. And it has this amazing curve in it.

Jeff and I actually were talking a little bit about this piece when he came up with it. Originally he was going to orient the bamboo in a different direction and maybe change the size of it a little bit, and by a happy accident he stumbled across this block and the grain pattern, and all of this stuff came together. Taking these cues from these natural materials is something that these pipe makers excel at. And in this case, we ended up with something that we've basically never seen before, a very asymmetric and dynamic take on a traditional Elephant's Foot, with a beautiful grain and stain. I love the interplay between the colors. This pipe is so complex, so interesting, and has so many curves.

David Huber Smooth Tomato with Bamboo

American artisan David Huber has fashioned this beautiful Tomato Saucer design for this year's Expo. What really strikes me about this piece is how subtly interesting the bamboo is. At first glance, it looks like a pretty standard piece of bamboo, but upon closer examination, it's actually pretty rare in how it twists on itself in the design. It's still straight in terms of the pipe shape, but the knuckles have this twisting motion when you look closely at it. And that's something that you don't see on a lot of bamboo. David selected a really cool piece of bamboo, but in a way that's on the more subtle and refined side. I also love how he treated the stem here with a very slanted stem base that matches the asymmetry of the bamboo knuckles. And it's also an army mount, so it's a very practical piece. The grain certainly impresses as well.

Adam Davidson Smooth Tomato with Silver Bamboo

Adam Davidson has created not only one, but two incredibly ambitious and unique concepts. So the common theme between both of these is that Adam wanted to submit bamboo pipes that did not have any actual bamboo. I'm going to start with the Smooth Tomato with Silver Bamboo. What we have here is a very traditional Danish/Japanese kind of a form, which Adam has played with throughout his career and here he has made great use of actual bamboo rhizomes. He's taken it a step further and completely from scratch, hammering a bamboo shank out of sterling silver. Achieving that requires a ton of patience, custom tooling, and a lot of creativity. So this bamboo silver-shank extension is super natural looking, I mean you would almost think that this was just molded in cast from a real piece of bamboo, but what he actually did to achieve this is much more complicated and time consuming.

Like I said, it was done all with hand tools and a lot of custom tooling to make all of these small, seemingly imperfect, natural-looking bamboo knuckles. A ton of work, resulting in a gorgeous execution. And I really love the juxtaposition of the natural briar and the silver bamboo both emulating or highlighting what nature has to offer.

Adam Davidson Smooth Blowfish without Bamboo

In addition to that, we have something that I can say I have never seen before. I could have never even conceived this idea. This is the Blowfish without bamboo. And essentially what you have here is a gorgeous Blowfish form with a shank extension that is the absence of bamboo. Now you can still see the details here and get a feel for what bamboo adds to a pipe aesthetically, but essentially what we're talking about here is the negative space around a relatively common pipe accent these days. So effectively what Adam has done here is a great amount of research and effectively he has cast a piece of real bamboo and then used that to come up with what is essentially a skeletonized bamboo shank extension. I love the lines and everything about this. It is one of the most unique and mind-blowing pipes I've seen in my entire career.

Truthfully, there's a lot visually to appreciate here. I also really appreciate that what we have here are reverse military mounts on both the junction between the bowl and the stem. You don't see any stainless steel tubing or anything like that, which is ambitious in itself. And I think the result is really striking. It also makes this easier to clean and it's actually a real smoker. It's going to be interesting to see how this looks when the owner chooses to smoke it for several years because I think it's going to give it a really nice warm glow eventually. And it's going to highlight the details and the nuance of the actual cast bamboo void as it were. Incredible stuff here, Adam.

Adam Davidson Calabash with Bamboo Charcoal

Adam decided to create a third pipe for the Expo, a Calabash featuring charcoal in the stummel. The sleek black design is striking to behold, featuring a smooth finish and a vulcanite stem. In its final form, this pipe belies its own manufacture. It appears to be a relatively straightforward cast of resin, with dark pieces of bamboo charcoal suspended within. However, that's not the reality. This pipe is the culmination of dozens of hours of research and development alongside dozens more hours spent manufacturing castings and molds of wood, plaster, rubber, and resin; employing vacuum, heat, and pressure; then turning, shaping, sanding, and polishing the final form. Moreover, Davidson created charcoal from bamboo for the pipe's aesthetic motif: first stabilizing the bamboo, then sanding and cutting individual pieces to 1/8" and suspending them between the two castings that form the inside and outside walls of the Calabash.

From a shape and functionality perspective, this pipe is as traditional a Calabash as they come: It features a hollow inside to cool the smoke before it reaches the stem, with the tobacco chamber housed in the domed, removable cap. However, aesthetically, it appears otherworldly — Lovecraftian, even. The resin passes light for a gleaming, translucent quality, and the bamboo charcoal looks to float unaided as if alive within. It's a genius combination of the traditional and the unprecedented, supported by the expertise and ingenuity of a craftsman who knows no limitations.

Scottie Piersel Relief Contrast Autumn Acorn with Morta Bamboo

Those familiar with Scottie Piersel's work are no doubt familiar with her Pencil Shank designs. And if you've followed her work for a number of years, you also know that she's made those designs out of morta. For this year's Expo, she has sort of riffed on that theme, crafting a bamboo morta shank for this pipe. What that means is this section is actually morta that she has then hand carved to resemble five knuckles of bamboo. Morta's a very tricky material to work with. It can be brittle when putting it on a lathe and stuff like that. So it really requires a deft hand and very close attention. So this is not just visually stunning, but it is super impressive from a craftsmanship perspective.

We have an Acorn bowl and then this very autumnal sort of brindled vulcanite stem, so much so that Scottie called this an Autumn Acorn because the color palette is so reminiscent of the season. One final touch is her Relief Contrast finish, which combines smooth and sandblasted textures. This stem base does a really nice job of matching the bamboo knuckles' rhythm, as well as their slanted posture. It's a really cool design from Scottie and a very impressive feat of craftsmanship.

Chris Asteriou Smooth Acorn with Bamboo Carving

And now for something completely different, we're going to Greece to hang out with my friend Chris Asteriou and his entry into the Expo this year. So Chris has done something really cool here. Of course, the theme this year is bamboo, but there's no bamboo on this piece. Chris has instead intricately carved three knuckles of bamboo into the actual shank of this pipe. The care with which he's done so is crazy. There's the bead lines and little striations that you see on natural bamboo that he's carved into this. It gives us this really cool dynamism I think in profile, especially paired with this really beautiful Acorn bowl. It's got this really nice heel on the front and then on the back it's this little curve that fits really nicely in the hand. And of course the palette on this is really beautiful. The contrast stain gets darker along the carved bamboo shank. Then he's paired that with this really beautiful tan piece of vulcanite here. It's a really exceptional piece from Chris.

Trey Rice Smooth Bent Dublin Sitter with Bamboo and Mammoth

American carver Trey Rice has submitted this beautiful Cherrywood bent Dublin Sitter design. Despite its fairly long length, he's balanced it perfectly to be able to stand upright, making for a really good desk pipe. But the star of the show is really this section of bamboo as we've been talking about. It's almost got a Buddha Belly type of aesthetic to it. It's not as bulbous as your standard Buddha Belly, but it has that more rounded essence as opposed to the very defined, more gnarly knuckles and nodes. The nodes that are on the bamboo have been topped with mammoth, so it's a very cool incorporation of two distinct accents here on this pipe. And then the bowl is a really beautiful piece of briar with flame grain that matches Trey's shaping. He's done a really nice job of shaping this block to the grain and the mahogany stain does a good job of contrasting against the lighter tones of the bamboo.

Micah Redmond Sandblasted Tomato with Bamboo and Bakelite

And next up is a Squat Tomato with Bamboo from Micah Redmond. Micah is obviously well known for his Tomato shapes and its many variations. I absolutely love this. Rather than some smaller pieces of bamboo, which we've seen on most of the submissions, Micah chose this super chunky piece of bamboo to act as the shank here. And I think it's a beautiful contrast to the Bakelite and the stain that he chose for the bowl, accenting the brownish red hues. There's an absolutely gorgeous sandblast on this, with ring grain through the sides in the forefront, and super tight bird's eye on the bottom. Great job, Micah.

Todd Johnson Smooth Calabash with Bamboo and Deng Feng Ceramic (with Boxwood/Briar Second Bowl)

For this year's Global Pipe-Making Exposition, Todd Johnson is pushing the boundaries of a handful of themes that he's played with before. This is a Bamboo Calabash, and again, we've seen work similar to this from Todd. And I think what he's done here is pushed the boundaries a little bit more even than usual and kept the classic Calabash form and also added these organic elements that make it seem frankly like it's sprouted from a tree. And that's one of the things about pipes. When I say organic, that's what I mean, like it looks like this was not designed by man, but made by nature. I think the way that he's been able to accomplish that here is through the bamboo itself, which is a really massive, interesting, and gnarly rhizome. To that he has continued this beautiful curve into the briar and kept the traditional Calabash form and cap, like I said on the traditional side, with a beautiful wafer of ebonite here in a split stem, which is another signature American innovation.

To keep the drilling continuous and the engineering perfect, there's a fine line that the bamboo separates with his normal traditional tenon. Again, this is a smoker, designed to be a smoker. And what I really like about this is the play on the color. You have the natural boxwood and the bamboo echoing each other, matching the gorgeously grained briar frame here as it were. And also included is a second Calabash bowl, which is actually made of ceramic by Deng Feng, who is a really renowned potter from Taiwan that specializes in high-end tea wear. This is a proprietary and custom-made Calabash ceramic bowl and it really does add a whole new element and makes this almost a completely different pipe when you add it. So there's a lot of versatility here in how you smoke it, and aesthetically, it's gorgeous.

G. Penzo Partially Sandblasted Leaf with Bamboo

Originally from Italy, but now based in Ireland, Giacomo Penzo has fashioned this really evocative and organic design for this year's Expo. In talking with him about it, he really was going for that organic motif and wanted to shape the bowl in a way that resembled bamboo leaves as if this were a stock of bamboo with a leaf growing out of it. And that's resulted in this very unique lens-like rim here. From whatever angle you look at this pipe, it changes its perspective and looks like a different design. I also love how he's matched the color palette across the whole piece. The bottom of the bowl is this very light tan blasted color, but Giacomo matched the color of the bamboo with the rim. So we have this very dark motif on the rim and the darker section of bamboo that's then contrasted by the tan blast below. He's done a really nice job with that organic theme again and also matching the rhythm of the knuckles with the stem base to really bring the design together.

Peter Heding Natural Smooth Whale with Bamboo (Diamond)

Next up, we have a killer entry from Peter Heding.This is a wonderfully gestural, dynamic interpretation of the Whale shape. It has that signature horn-like flow, paneled, with either flank of the pipe going into these whale tail-like fins at the back. And to juxtapose that, Peter's given us a very slender shank of bamboo that rises into the air and really completes that dynamism of the form. Now this is actually a Diamond grade from Peter, so it is an immaculately grained piece. I think Peter's done an excellent job framing every section of this pipe. Either flank has these walls of cross grain that follow the natural lines of the form and then the underside, the fore, is completely covered in bird's eye. And you'll also find that, just to really emphasize the dynamism of this piece, Peter's actually given this an ebonite foot that allows it to sit on any surface, allowing it to serve as a functional piece of sculptural art.

Il Cerchio Natural Partially Sandblasted Volcano with Bamboo and Boxwood

Angelo Del Prete fashions artisan pipes in Italy and he has sent us this beautiful Volcano for this year's Expo. Right off the bat, the section of bamboo immediately catches the eye. There's six knuckles. He's put it in this sweeping full-bent posture that really makes for a comfortable jaw-hanger pipe. And the briar is also immaculate. We've got beautiful growth rings around the sides of the bowl. He was able to leave the bottom smooth as well for a really nice natural virgin finish, showcasing the bird's eye. I love the profile. He's gotten all the curves really nicely balanced. The curve of the rim, the curve of the stem, and the curve of the heel all really match with one another. And to top it all off, he's accented the nodes with boxwood. We've got this really beautiful interplay of bamboo and boxwood that still keeps the color palette light to match the tan blast.

Abe Herbaugh Smooth Tomato with Silver Bamboo (Crane)

Abe Herbaugh's submission is this amazing piece. I almost don't know what to say about this. What you are seeing is a pipe with a bamboo shank extension that is made from solid sterling silver. Abe, as a craftsman, is absolutely one of the best in the entire world. And his silver work in particular in the last several years has garnered a lot of attention from collectors and other pipe makers. Here he has created something so visually and aesthetically organic from a precious metal. The amount of work that goes into this, I can't even fathom. And I think the result is stunning. It's super delicate, with beautiful briar. It also earned his highest grade, which is the Crane, and is every bit deserving of that. This is an incredible piece.

Davide Iafisco Smooth Cobra with Buddha Belly Bamboo and Horn

And next up we have a ridiculously gorgeous submission from Davide Iafisco of Italy. Davide has chosen to do a smooth Cobra with Buddha Belly bamboo, and the color palette, although contrasting, works really well. It has a natural stain on a ridiculously grained pipe, with beautiful bird's eye on the forefront. These lines are perfectly sweeping with the shape of the pipe. They contrast this pale bamboo really beautifully, and the Cumberland stem just sets it off. I don't think words could really do justice to how cool this pipe is, but great job, Davide.

Luiz Lavos Natural Smooth Cavalier Tulip with Bamboo and Horn (Smoking Snake)

This is a very special piece from Luiz Lavos, an artisan based in Brazil. It's a fully functioning Cavalier made mostly of this 7 knuckled piece of bamboo. And the profile is absolutely incredible. He matched the curve of the bamboo with the stem and he shaped the bowl to be evocative of a leaf of bamboo, as if this whole pipe were just growing straight up out of the ground. Like I said, it's a fully functioning Cavalier. So this cap comes off to drain the moisture. And then we've got the airway and the tobacco chamber right here. What's also special about this piece is that it is the first pipe to earn Luiz's highest grade, which is the Smoking Snake. And the Smoking Snake is a specific reference to Brazilian troops in World War II.

There was a saying in Brazil at the time that they'd only enter the war when snakes were smoking. So when they did finally enter World War II, they dubbed their expeditionary forces the Smoking Snakes. And his stamp resembles the insignia that the Brazilian troops wore. It's a really cool homage to his Brazilian heritage and their efforts in World War II as well. And this is an absolutely fitting pipe for his first high-grade stamp. The natural finish on the briar brings out the cross grain and the bird's eye in stunning display. And it's rare to get a natural finish in any pipe, let alone a piece as special as this with the bamboo. And he's also topped the bamboo with these little horn beads that do well to match the stem color and bring the whole composition together.

Manduela Bamboo Acorn with Bamboo and Meerschaum

Manduela has submitted something very unique, something I've certainly never seen from her before, although she's no stranger to pushing boundaries and trying new, interesting, and innovative things. What we have here is a Bamboo Acorn with Bamboo. Now this is a piece of rhizome, — the root from underneath the ground grew big enough that she was able to actually shape it into this Acorn shape and preserve the rhizomes — basically the actual branches of the bamboo that grows out from the root. To this, she has added a nice contrasting bamboo shank extension, which is dark bamboo. The chamber itself is made of meerschaum. So it's really smokeable and is a pipe that is going to perform super well, even though it is made from very alternative, organic materials. There's so much nuance and detail in this piece.

Silver Gray Sandblasted Cauldron with Bamboo

Silver Gray's submission into this year's Expo is a sandblasted Cauldron with a bamboo shank. What first strikes me about this pipe is that there is tons of contrast that somehow goes really well together. The sandblast plays off the smooth bamboo and the rim kind of draws your eye to these two elements. The pale colors pair well with this unique vulcanite that Silver chose. It's one of those pipes that you could sit and stare at for quite a bit and it would take you a while to figure out. Overall, it's an excellent piece from Silver and is a pipe that is uniquely Silver.

Jared Coles Sandblasted Little Maker with Bamboo and Epoxy (with Stand)

American artisan Jared Coles has sent us a pipe that will be interesting to all of us science-fiction aficionados. This is a Dune-inspired pipe, inspired by Frank Herbert's Dune novel series. Jared has called this pipe the Little Maker in reference to the baby sandworms from the book. It's an incredibly thematic pipe and incredibly well done within that theme. If you haven't read the book or haven't seen the movie, go look it up because you might not understand anything I'm talking about. But this really does evoke the imagery and the essence of the Shai-Hulud sandworms in the series.

For specifics, we've obviously got a briar bowl here with a briar chamber, and then this section of bamboo is fat and gnarly. There's nothing consistent about it, which makes it cool and unique. Typically you are seeing consistent pieces of bamboo on a pipe. So it's great to see these really gnarly sections being used in special pieces like this, speared through with this massive spear of vulcanite that also doubles as the stem. Then the sandworm's tail is also made of vulcanite too. To accent the nodes, Jared used this sparkly blue epoxy that's also a Dune reference to the spice in the movie, making the Fremen's eyes blue from their intake of spice. So these blue nodes honor that theme and it all comes complete with its own stand made of pine, carved to resemble nothing else but a sand dune. It's a display centerpiece of a collection. It's incredibly unique, I've never seen anything like this before. I'm a big fan of the Dune series, if you're also a fan, this pipe is pretty dang sweet.

Il Duca Smooth Shield with Bamboo

Next up we have a Smooth Shield with a bamboo shank from Max Rimensi of Il Duca. It's a beautiful pipe. These lines are perfectly accented by the grain on this pipe. It is exactly what a Shield should be, with tight birdseye on the back and forefront, very crisp lines, and straight grain on the sides. But what I find most unique is that the use of bamboo almost creates a gradient from the stummel to the stem, a light to dark kind of effect.

Scott Klein Bamboo Calabash (Signature)

Last, but not least, we have what is certainly not a traditional Viking drinking horn, but instead an amazingly impressive Signature grade fully functional Calabash from Scott Klein. As you could probably tell, this piece is entirely made of bamboo. The only elements of this pipe that are not made of bamboo is of course the stem and the internal tobacco chamber, which is made of briar. Everything else on this piece is bamboo. The cap is bamboo. This is a fully functional Calabash. You can remove the cap, but the cap itself is a cross-cut section of the bamboo. And he smooth polished that, which gives it this really cool almost tentacle-sucker pattern. And then, of course, that flows down to this beautifully tapered piece of bamboo with these waves going from the cap all the way to this really smooth, polished accent of bamboo as well.

Scott has taken this bamboo theme and created something that I didn't actually think was possible. And, of course, that's the whole point of this, right? It is to challenge expectations and do something unique. I think Scott has definitely done that here, and it's unlike anything else I've ever seen. Awesome work, man.

10th Annual Global Pipe-Making Exposition

And there you have it, the 10th and also first annual Global Pipe-Making Exposition. Thank you so much to all the pipe makers who participated this year and for all of the amazing work that we've been able to see and share with you guys. We'll see you all next year.