Vauen

I seem to have always wanted one of these since I saw a very attractive Vauen on the internet. Stupidly, I held back because of my own ignorance and missed what may have been an excellent pipe.
Vauen has been making pipes for many years. In fact, they started in 1848 in Nüremburg, Germany.  They too have a white spot on some of their stems which can cause some confusion among the Dunhill fans, but the two makers are not in any way related.

This particular pipe came to me via the World Championships held in Portugal in 2010. I haven’t really smoked it that much since then but recently I have pulled it from the rack and have enjoyed a few bowls of Virginia in it. It is turning out to be a very good pipe. It burns evenly, generally to the bottom of the bowl and the engineering appears to be as good as it gets. The draw is free and airway open. An easy pipe to smoke. If this is typical of Vauen, then I may just have to own a few more.
The bowl is not as attractive as it might be, being devoid of anything resembling grain except for a small flash of flame on the left side, but like books, you can’t judge a pipe by its cover.  And bear in mind, this is a mass produced pipe and not exactly an artisan piece.  Despite all that, it is still a good smoker.
The pipe is decorated by what appears to be a boxwood ring and the bowl has a varnish-like finish. There is a model number stamped into the underside of the shank, “3188”.  Apart from this, “Vauen” is stamped into the port side of the shank and “World Championships” over “Portugal 2010” on the starboard.

Dimensions:

Length: 145 mm
Bowl: 48 mm high and Ø38 mm
Chamber: Ø20 mm and 39 mm deep.
Airway: 4 mm.

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