Old German Clay Model no.15 Pipe Review

lo-fi & lovely

Old German Clay Model no.15 Pipe Review

BRAND: Old German Clay
MODEL: 15
STYLE: Dublin

LENGTH: 6.06"
HEIGHT: 1.54"
BOWL DIA./DEPTH: 0.72/1.27"

FILTER: no
MATERIAL: Clay
FINISH: Natural, carved

Carved white clay pipes darken-up in just the loveliest way. More on that in a tick. First off, in maybe the most important test of any pipe--this pulls a bit snug. Definitely, a pipe to sip thru and perhaps not the most ideal for much beyond a loose-packed ribbon-cut 'baccy. Back to that darkening sentiment... the somewhat restricted flow can be seen in how the shank (a bit past the immediate bowl) brown-blackened way before the rest of it. But let's not over-state here--a pipe cleaner does pass thru reasonably easily.

As to how it feels in the mitt, light (of course) but notably (thus noted by way of notation) unbalanced. Wobbly. The bowl is spinny AF, see. That and the circular stem makes it tricky to clench even as far as very-tricky clays go. See: pipe notch. Lucky I'm not a clencher of neither pipes nor cigars, but if you are--move on from this 'un. On the plus and unrelated side, it does burn cool, again, for clay. I found the easiest hold was thumb-to-nipple under bowl and pointer/middle-finger atop the rim. 

Eventually, the nicotine patina does stretch to cover the floral-carved length of stem. That really is one of the prettiest sites to me--a black-oily pipe akin to Sherlock's. I really do believe that Doyle meant to portray heavy usage in his oily black sedimentation, more-so than a painted black. A final note here is that the stem does have a slight bend in it at the last half-inch prior to bit. Perhaps from when it was released from the mold. I wish I could grade this pipe higher, as it's legit one of my faves, flaws and all. Or perhaps on account of 'em.

FINAL GRADE: B-
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

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