The Russian pipe community is going strong, both in their incredible surge of new and exciting carvers, as well as within their pipe smoking & pipe collecting community. Russia is a country that has always been in many ways out of reach for many of us in so many different ways. Today it is slowly but surely making a definitive name for itself within our hobby. On top of these exciting new things that seem to be streaming out of that country these days, they also have their annual pipe show, held in St. Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad. The St. Petersburg pipe show is produced by Alexey Shekhovtsov & Lev Vasilyev. The show has gained the attention of the global carving elite for some time now and this year was no different. Even some well-known US carvers made the long trip overseas.
Some of the attending carvers this year were: Anne Julie (Denmark), Kurt Balleby (Denmark), Jeff Gracik (USA), Per & Ulf of S. Bang (Denmark), Gregor Lobnik (Slovenia) Jan Kloucek (Czech), Manduela (Denmark), Peter Matzhold (Austria), Todd Johnson (USA) & Michael Novak (Czech). Russian carvers who took tables included the likes of Vladimir Grechukin, Roman Kovalev, Konstantin Shekita & Boris Starkov. The show also attracted such names as Nanna Ivarsson, Michail Revyagin & Viktor Yashtylov. Without a doubt, the show was definitely well attended with top carving talent. I for one wish I was there.
Although I myself was unable to attend, I was able to employ & engage the services of well-known pipe collector Mikael Pertot and have him act as our eyes, on behalf of TobaccoDays readers, so that this far away show, can be brought into your homes. Mikael Pertot, as you will soon see, did an outstanding job of capturing the essence of this annual event.
As with the West Coast Pipe Show Picture Report, we will again begin by showing you the people who attended the show & then bring you the incredible pipes that they brought with them.
As always, I hope you enjoy or as they say in Russian, nasdarovya!
Czar's Winter Palace, St. Petersburg
Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, St. Petersburg
Vladimir Grechukin & Jeff Gracik, All Smiles
Todd Johnson & Roman Kovalev
Warm Russian Kitchen Hello's, Jeff Gracik hugging Manduela with Melissa Gracik & Anne Julie
Anne Julie and Per Bilhall, saying Hello to each other properly
Michail Revyagin, Nanna Ivarsson & Anne Julie
Roman Kovalev & Mikael Pertot
Per Bilhall (ScandPipes.com) with Alexey & Lev who are both from Pipeshop.ru & St. Petersburg show producers
Boris Starkov & Jeff Gracik
Vladimir Grechukin & Konstantin Shekita, with their Joint Venture pipe
Nanna with pipe
Jeff Gracik at Senate Square in St. Petersburg
Peter Matzhold
Manduela gifting Grechukin her branded underwear
Vladimir Grechukin enjoying his Gift of underwear from Manduela
Todd Johnson & Michail Revyagin
Per Bilhall (ScandPipes.com) & Viktor Yashtylov
Todd Johnson & Jeff Gracik toasting with Vodka (not really Vodka but Brandy…Vodka sounds better though)
Kurt Balleby
Anne Julie holding a Boris Starkov pipe that Boris made in Anne's honor
Jan Klouceks
Nanna Ivarsson and Mikael Pertot
A Happy Boris Starkov
Gregor Lobnik
Per Bilhall & Jeff Gracik
Per (S. Bang), Danchenko, Kovalev & Ulf (S. Bang)
Michael Novak & his pipes
Pipe Show Drinking, Russian Style
Michail Revyagin enjoying a Joao Reis pipe
Lev Vasilyev & Alexey Shekhovtsov – Producers of St. Petersburg show
Anne Julie & Boris Starkov
Michail Revyagin & Jeff Gracik
Camilla & Nanna Ivarsson with Per Bilhall
Todd Johnson
Michail Revyagin with Per Hansen & Ulf Noltensmeier from S. Bang
Nanna doing the nose thing again
Mikael Pertot & Andrei Klychnikov
Manduela
Nanna Ivarsson & Per Bilhall (ScandPipes.com)
Konstantin Shekita
Todd Johnson & Vladimir Grechukin
Jeff & Melissa Gracik
Vladimir Grechukin & Jeff Gracik – Great Picture
Michail Revyagin
Warm Russian Kitchen Hello's, Jeff Gracik hugging Manduela with Melissa Gracik & Anne Julie
Boris Starkov, reminding us of a good idea
Michail Revyagin with one of his Horns
A Collaborative Grechukin & Shekita pipe
Manudela pipes & Manduela underwear – Perfect Combination
Manduela pipe 1
Manduela pipe 2
Manduela pipe 3
Manduela pipe 4
Manduela pipe 5
Manduela pipe 6 w: Green Rubber Ebonite
Manduela pipe 7
Manduela pipe 8
Manduela 'double-take' pipe 9
Manduela pipe – Perfect
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – Truly Stunning Pieces
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 5
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 6
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 7
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 8
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 2
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – detail 3
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 4
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 3
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – close 2
J. Alan & Vladimir Grechukin Collaboration pipes – detail 2
Anne Julie pipes – Magnificent
Anne Julie pipes
Anne Julie pipe
Anne Julie pipe
Anne Julie pipe 1
Anne Julie pipe 2
Anne Julie pipe 3
Anne Julie 'out of this world' pipes
Anne Julie Pipe, Best in Show 1
Anne Julie Pipe, Best in Show 2
Michael Novak pipes detail
Konstantin Shekita pipe
Nanna Ivarsson pipe 1
Lars Ivarsson pipe
Lars Ivarsson pipe 2
Sixten Ivarsson pipe
Bo Nordh pipe
Genod pipe by Sebastien Beo
Hiroyuki Tokutomi pipe
Hiroyuki Tokutomi pipe 1
Gregor Lobnik pipe 1
Gregor Lobnik pipe 2
Gregor Lobnik pipe 3
Gregor Lobnik pipe 4
Gregor Lobnik pipe 5
Gregor Lobnik pipe 6
Gregor Lobnik pipe 7
Gregor Lobnik pipe 8
Gregor Lobnik pipe 9
Gregor Lobnik pipe 10
Gregor Lobnik pipe 11
Gregor Lobnik pipe 12
Gregor Lobnik pipe
Grechukin pipes 1
Grechukin pipes 2
Grechukin pipes 3
Grechukin pipes 4
Grechukin pipes 5
Grechukin pipes 6
Boris Starkov pipe
Boris Starkov pipe 1
Boris Starkov pipe 2
Boris Starkov Beautiful pipe 3
Boris Starkov pipe 4
Boris Starkov pipes
Thank you again to TobaccoDays correspondant Mikael Pertot for delivering us these great pictures and truly giving us an inside view of the show.
Some information on TobaccoDays 1st foreign correspondant.
Mikael Pertot
Mikael Pertot is a 50-year old pipe collector from Sweden. He describes himself as being an avid cigar smoker for the past 20 years and that he worked as the distributor for Cigar La Donna Dorado (Dominican) in Sweden some time ago. By coincidence a friend of his introduced him to pipes several years ago and Mikael was, in his words ”…instantly hooked by the flavor and body of the tobacco…” Shortly after that moment and sadly, like many of us, Mikael was diagnosed with P.A.D. (Pipe Acquisition Disorder) and he immediately set out on a trek to learn as much as possible regarding everything that is pipe related. His main interest was in high grade pipes and he began to visit most, if not all, the pipe makers in Sweden & Denmark. After his first visit to the 2010 St. Petersburg pipe show, Mikael got hooked on Russian and Ukranian carvers, where he believes that many of tomorrows high grade carvers will soon be found.
Mikael counts many of the best pipe makers in the world as his personal friends and he is happy to announce that Per Bilhall (ScandPipes.com) has made him Assistant Pipe Dealer and he is now in charge of managing Russian and Ukranian carvers for ScandPipes.
Copyright © 2011. TobaccoDays.com. All rights reserved.
Outstanding post! It feels like being there first hand! The are a lot of folks worth watching coming out of Russia!
Конечно, спору нет.
Hi there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give
a quick shout out and tell you I really enjoy reading your posts.