Masterpieces in Olivewood

[RockvillePete]

[align=justify]Briar and meerschaum aren’t the only games in town when it comes to pipe making materials. Olivewood possesses many favorable qualities ideally suited for pipes and has been used with considerable success by carvers such as Tom Spanu, Federico Rovera, Tim Fuller, and Kevin Arthur among others. One maker whose work I wasn’t familiar with until recently is Abi Natur of Cannan Pipes. I discovered a few of his masterpieces on offer at Maxim Engel’s Pipes2Smoke and was instantly mesmerized. I have a few olivewood or olivastro pipes by Tom Spanu that are quite nice but are nowhere near the artistry of these!
[/align]

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by by Abi Natur

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by by Abi Natur

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by by Abi Natur

Cobra-Horn. Pipe and photo by by Abi Natur
​

[align=justify]
Abi’s olivewood pipes are some of the most original, creative, and stunningly gorgeous pieces I’ve seen. His workshop is in the city of Bar in Montenegro, on the Adriatic across from the heel of Italy’s boot. A particular species of olive tree grows in abundance in this region and Abi harvests and cures his own olivewood. These were fashioned from a 400 year old tree that was further aged and cured for 4 years. Abi cuts his own lucite & cumberland stems from high grade rod stock. Interestingly he doesn’t use a lathe in the turning of the bowl or for drilling the tobacco chamber or draught hole which are done entirely freehand.
[/align]

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur

Pharaoh's Poker. Pipe and photo by Abi Natur
​

[align=justify]
I’m smitten with these functional works of art and should be receiving them in a few days. Maxim assures me that they will smoke just as good as they look. If anyone has experienced one of Abi Natur’s pipes, please give me your impressions.[/align]

 

[RDPipes]

Now there's some wild looking pipes, I reckon the prices are just as wild.
Shame, cause I really like them :fpalm: 

 

[Brewdude]

Beautiful artistry. Not my style, but they are well executed.


Cheers,

RR

 

[pepesdad1]

Beautiful wood....not too wild about the styles but the wood has a future.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

The wood in the olive wood pipes I've seen is nowhere nearly as wonderfully grained as these. Thanks for posting!

 

[Richard Burley]

They are stunning, as art. As smoking pipes, they would be over the top for me. Awkward, and scorch marks would ruin their perfection. That's not to say I wouldn't buy them if I had the wherewithal, just to look at and stroke.  :roll:

I say, is there a downside to olivewood pipes? I know it is used successfully, but is briar obviously better, as in the case of cherrywood?  I wouldn't mind having one, but not if it eventually turns into a hunk of bitter char from smoking, as was my experience with cherry.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I don't have olivewood pipes at all, but a few chaps and friends here do.   The Tinder Box offered some models of various sorts for a while.

The verdict?  They smoke great.  There's a unique taste to 'em, nothing offensive, but certainly not briar.  They smoke cool, and breathe well.   As far as coloration, they turn a slightly muddled grey color at first, then start to take on a deeper tawny hue...the grain in a couple of models actually started acting like "color channels" and have become fascinating to watch change.  I don't think they'd be good for anyone not particularly mindful of resting pipes, or those who hot-smoke or smoke too fast.

<img class="emojione" alt="?" title=":shrug:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/1f937.png?v=2.2.7"/>

As far as the shapes above, not my thing, but olive wood is something I aspire to find the right one so I can find out all of this first-hand.  

8)

 

[Eric]

I'm a real "conservative shape" guy these days, but I really like these designs when olive wood is used.

 

[AJ]

Those pipes are really eye catching. Hard to think a pipe that looks that good wouldn't smoke like a dream.  

AJ

 

[RockvillePete]

Thanks everyone!

These babies finally arrived today and look absolutely magnificent! The grain is some of the nicest I’ve seen, be it olivewood or briar. The wood has been finished to a glass-like surface. Besides these, my Poul Ilsted is the only pipe that has this degree of mirror-like finish and the grain virtually explodes when it’s polished. Just gorgeous.

I don’t know how Abi managed to carve out that flying brace on the bottom of the Cobra-Horn without it cracking or snapping in half. It’s only 3/16th of an inch thick if that. It's curved so it looks thicker in the photo.

I’m almost afraid to smoke it for fear that the temperature difference may cause greater expansion of the bowl than the brace and crack it. This one demands TLC and will never leave the house! The Pharaoh’s Poker on the other hand is quite robust and should fare well on my travels. In fact I’m looking forward to firing it up on my drive home!  

All in all these appear to be stunning pipes showing impeccable workmanship and were actually quite reasonably priced for this level of detail. Hopefully they’ll smoke as good as they look.

 

[CharlG]

Abi definitely is an artist and the wood he uses is always amazing!