German Estare Vauen Dr. Perl (3330), smooth straight billiard

Not every filter pipe carries the name of its own filter stamped into the briar. This one does: Dr. Perl.

PERL, and 3330, quoted here exactly as read off the pipe. The 3330 is the stamped model number; nothing further is read into it.

In 1901 that firm merged with the works of Gebhard Ott, founded in 1866, to form Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken Nurnberg, managed by Ernst Eckert of the Ott family. The firm patented a paper filter in 1921, and in 1934 introduced the Dr. Perl junior, the world's first activated-carbon 9mm filter for a tobacco pipe.

THE MARKS
- VAUEN - maker's stamp
- DR. PERL - filter-system name, stamped
- 3330 - stamped model number

A straight billiard is the shape most pipe smokers learn to judge every other shape against: a bowl rising as a simple truncated cone from a flat base, a shank running off it on the same axis as the stem, no bend anywhere in the line from bit to heel. It stands upright on its own foot without a stand, which makes it as much a shelf piece as a smoking pipe. The bit opens in a fishtail slot - a wide, flat opening rather than a round punch hole - which spreads the draw across a broader path as smoke crosses from the 9mm filter chamber into the mouth. Set against bent or Dublin siblings in the same catalogue, the straight billiard is the plainest expression of the shape family: no flare at the bowl mouth, no forward rake, nothing softening the geometry.

Finish and grain: see the photographs.

Condition: this is a pre-smoked pipe, offered in good estate condition, not new old stock. Faint scratching is scattered across the briar, consistent with handling and cleaning rather than damage. The vulcanite stem shows a bite mark on the bit from a previous smoker's grip. Where the stem meets the shank, the vulcanite has been over-sanded, worn thinner than the factory cut left it, from repeated hand cleaning over the pipe's life. No cracks, fills, or repairs are noted beyond these.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 148mm (5.9")
- Bowl height: 47mm (1.8")
- Bowl width: 35mm (1.4")
- Chamber depth: 40mm (1.6")
- Chamber diameter: 20mm (0.8")
- Weight: 1.35 oz
- Filter: 9mm

Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe.

SKU: 311