Vauen 4773 Sandblast Bent Apple Pipe, Double Metal Band, 9mm Filter, Pre-Smoked

Two metal bands meet at the joint of this pipe, one at the end of the shank and one on the stem, and together they give it an elegant profile. Under the shank a smooth panel carries the stamp VAUEN over the number 4773. This is a Vauen bent apple in a sandblast finish with a smooth strip on the top of the rim, on an acrylic saddle stem with a fishtail bit, made to take a 9 mm filter.

Condition: pre-smoked, in good condition. There are faint scratches in the stain, mostly on the bottom of the shank.

Vauen's story starts in Nuremberg in 1848, when Karl Ellenberger and Carl August Ziener opened what is known as the first pipe factory in Germany. In 1866 Gebhard Ott founded a pipe works of his own, and in 1901 the two houses joined as the Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken Nurnberg, managed by Ernst Eckert of the Ott family.

The name on this shank came in 1909. Adolf Eckert took the V of Vereinigte and the N of Nurnberg and made VAUEN, and the trademark was registered on 21 September 1909. In the 1920s the firm began to use a white dot on the mouthpiece as its trademark; after a court case with Dunhill, the white dot was kept for Germany and Austria and light-blue or grey dots were used for other markets. On Vauen pipes a dot marks the higher grades, while the lower grades carry the VAUEN imprint alone.

Vauen is also known for filters. A paper filter came in 1921, and in 1934 the firm brought out the Dr. Perl junior, a 9 mm activated-carbon filter and the first of its kind. Production has stayed in Nuremberg, the company has stayed in the family, and Alexander Eckert, the fifth generation, has led it since 1982.

THE MARKS
- VAUEN on a smooth panel under the shank
- 4773 below it

The meaning of the number 4773 is not known.

This pipe is bent, and its bowl is 54 mm high and 41 mm wide, with a chamber 20 mm across and 41 mm deep. The acrylic saddle stem ends in a fishtail bit.

The sandblast covers the bowl and the shank. The top of the rim is left smooth as a strip, and a second smooth area under the shank holds the stamp.

The VAUEN name dates the pipe to 1909 or later, and the 9 mm filter system to 1934 or later; the stamps do not give a closer date.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 130 mm (5.12 in)
- Bowl height: 54 mm (2.13 in)
- Bowl width: 41 mm (1.61 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 41 mm (1.61 in)
- Weight: 52 g (1.83 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 596