The manufacturing of pipes, a noble craft...
At the Royal Dutch Pipe factory we prefer to speak of a workshop rather than a factory. And rightly so, because in spite of the sweeping technological developments which have occurred in other fields, the manufacturing of tobacco pipes remains a highly-skilled craft.
A coincidence perhaps, but a pipe maker resembles the pipe smoker in many ways. He possesses a considerable degree of individualism, patience and an eye for detail. Like the sculptor or diamond-cutter, the pipe maker in his mind has a vision of the final form and texture of the pipe throughout each stage of the crafting process.
A pipe maker uses his finely tuned sense of equilibrium and proportion to find the pipe's ideal balance, which has a decisive influence on whether the pipe will feel comfortable in the mouth.
Making a pipe requires a very special affinity for the medium, and experience in working with the unruly and capricious material from which superior tobacco pipes are made: the root of the Erica Arborea, or briar wood. This briar wood, noble and beautifully grained, forces its way through the rocky soil of the area around the Mediterranean and adds 50 years of growth to the value of the pipe
Faults and imperfections are revealed as the wood is crafted. The pipe maker can never predict with certainty that the block of wood will actually be transformed into the pipe he visualises or the high quality pipe with which the Royal Dutch Pipe Factory has built its reputation, It might even end up as a piece of firewood, for not without reason do the old pipe makers say "Top quality is found, not crafted"
And indeed, tobacco pipes are crafted, not manufactured. They are crafted by experts, who have learnt their noble skills through many years of practice.
A speciality of Hilson is the addition of a meerschaum insert into the first-quality briar root tobacco pipes. Meerschaum is a fossil which is extracted in Turkey. The material is very light, porous and it absorbs fluid. It also adds a sweet taste to the tobacco and because of the double sides a cooler smoke is realised.
