Sherlock Holmes. Gandalf. Popeye. What do they all have in common?
The answer: they all love a good pipe. And not just any random pipe you can buy at a gas station (do they even have gas stations on Middle Earth?). They use ICONIC pipes, ones you can instantly identify based on the silhouette alone. But if you want an iconic pipe of your own, where do you go?
Our best recommendation would be BriarWorks, a pipe-making company that recently moved into a large production facility in Columbia, Tennessee. Now, we’re not sure if their pipes will make you incredibly smart or able to cast magic or give you cartoonishly large arms...we’re still waiting for lab results on all that. But each pipe IS hand-crafted by masters at the top of their game, which means every pipe is distinctly different from anything else. One quick glance at their pipes is enough to see how much passion goes into making these unique, highly sought after items. This passion is what we here at lilDRAGON wanted to showcase in their promotional video.
Gabe (Creative Director at lilDRAGON) met the President of BriarWorks, Pete Prevost, through mutual acquaintances and became friends. Gabe toured their first factory in Nashville and was thoroughly impressed. He also loved hearing about Pete’s past as a professional guitar player who was constantly going on tour before he decided to get into pipe making. Pete had some ideas for creating a video to show off what BriarWorks is doing and lilDRAGON happily jumped on board.
We wanted to show how hands-on the process is with people individually crafting each pipe. These aren’t just stamped out by a machine, rolling off an assembly line; they take a block of wood and hone it down, giving each piece all the time it needs to be transformed into not just a beautiful looking pipe, but one that also functions well. They’re not interested in taking shortcuts just to make a quick buck - and it’s these values we here at lilDRAGON share with BriarWorks. When you’re passionate about something, you want to give it all the time and attention it needs so it will make an impact on others.
BriarWorks is more than just a place to make pipes. They opened a lounge in the front of the warehouse, selling tobacco, accessories and other things to go along with the pipes. It’s been really popular with folks in the area, allowing fellow pipe lovers to connect with each other - and with the makers at BriarWorks.
So check out the video to enter this unique world of American pipe-making. If you happen to stop by, tell them that lilDRAGON sent ya!