Just acquired my first Ardor with the Meteora rustication/carved finish. I don't normally do posts like this when I get a new pipe, but I am so smitten with the carving/rustication on this, I feel the need to gush a bit. I have never been a big fan of rustication on pipes (with maybe the exception for sea rocks), as I like to see the natural grain, preferably in blast format. Carved pipes are usually even less appealing (Marxman pipes make me puke, sorry Briar Lee). However, I came across a Meterora billard a couple months back on Bollito's website, and I was moved. Unfortunately, it took a while for my subconscious to tell me that I was infatuated with the pipe, and by that time, it was sold. Then a Aleveare hawkbill showed up on Bollito a few weeks later, and before I could bring myself to pull the trigger, it was gone too. Since then, I have been on the lookout. Well, I finally found this guy being up for sale from Guzzi, and after waiting 5 days to see if it was meant to be (that the cosmos didn't intend this pipe for another soul), finally pulled the trigger.
It really is hard to be unique in the pipe making field anymore, given how many carvers there are out there. At some point, straight/flame grain just draws yawns (still a sucker for good birdseye though). However, Ardor definitely has a knack for sticking out, and I am really starting to admire them for it. In this case, I definitely get a mid-century vibe from the Meteora rustication, like the pipe walked out of the 1950s/60s, yet I don't think I have ever seen something this refined on the estate market from that era. I also have a bit of a hard time fathoming how they do the rustication on these, and the fact that it appears so random yet holistically balanced, which just blows me away. This is something that is so hard to pull off, at least for an engineer like me that sees and tries to force regimented patterns into everything. The drilling and the draw are also perfect and wide open, so it has that going for it too.
I could totally see myself getting sucked up collecting these, but I'm too old to do the collecting thing anymore, I got too much junk as it is. I think I'll be happy with just this one, an let it be that rare bird in my collection.
It really is hard to be unique in the pipe making field anymore, given how many carvers there are out there. At some point, straight/flame grain just draws yawns (still a sucker for good birdseye though). However, Ardor definitely has a knack for sticking out, and I am really starting to admire them for it. In this case, I definitely get a mid-century vibe from the Meteora rustication, like the pipe walked out of the 1950s/60s, yet I don't think I have ever seen something this refined on the estate market from that era. I also have a bit of a hard time fathoming how they do the rustication on these, and the fact that it appears so random yet holistically balanced, which just blows me away. This is something that is so hard to pull off, at least for an engineer like me that sees and tries to force regimented patterns into everything. The drilling and the draw are also perfect and wide open, so it has that going for it too.
I could totally see myself getting sucked up collecting these, but I'm too old to do the collecting thing anymore, I got too much junk as it is. I think I'll be happy with just this one, an let it be that rare bird in my collection.
