A few weeks ago, I had one of the more enjoyable pipe experiences of my career.

A few friends of mine from the Bay area came down for a visit, and not a normal one. One of them had recently been introduced to pipes, and wanted to get his first artisan piece. I was a little apprehensive to make the pipe in front of the end customer, not wanting to give up too much artistic liberty (truly satisfying works of art needs a cohesive vision).

But as we started picking through some briar, and I started to get the direction that the pipe was going, I realized that I wasn’t making a commissioned pipe. This was a collaboration project. After 5 years of collaborative pipe making with John Klose, this was second nature to me, and it took me right back to the reason why we started J&J in the first place.

Over the course of the day, we kept refining the pipe, and he even got to do a little work on it! It’s difficult to finish a pipe in one day (especially with all my arcane finish processes), so I made the trek north to deliver the pipe a few weeks later. We sat on the porch, and watched the gentle California rain as he smoked it for the first time.

With his new pipe. 

This is why I make pipes.

Everyone collects something, and I collect pipes that have had an emotional impact on me. I still have the first pipe I made in San Diego with Jeff. I have experimental pipes that represented a breakthrough for J&J. Pipes are powerful totemic objects that transport us back in time.

I hope someday all of you get to visit me in the shop and have the same experience.

Below you’ll see pictures of the pipe, to view full resolution pictures please go HERE

Regards, Jared

+1 5597306766
jared@jaredcolespipes.com