I like the lines of the pipe, I like the wood grain, but I particularly like the matching of the stem to the stummel, in terms of color and the swirl being reminiscent of the wood grain. The stem kinda looks like wood. In my opinion, some nice choices were made.
Well, I have no idea what the "secret" is, but the relationship between the shaping of the bowl and shank, and the flow of the grain around it is spectacular, like the two sides are twins. Quite a beautifully conceived piece.
It is a nice pipe, but I have no idea what the secret is. I thought that maybe it was the angle of the chamber rim to the bowl drilling, but you guys covered that.
The pipe came from Schrodinger's estate, it simultaneously exists in an unknown state until you open the pipe sock and collapse the wave function and find that the pipe is real or not real. It was only able to be photographed by placing the camera inside a sealed light box and using a bluetooth remote to operate the shutter. If you open the light box the pipe may not actually exist.
Or the pipe is actually a reliquary, it contains a toe bone from Saint Nordh and is venerated by the Danish Franciscan Briars.