Design Berlin Rugen Green 9mm Bent Billiard 85045A

• Overall Length: 120mm
• Overall Height: 70mm
• Bowl Height: 45mm
• Bowl Diameter: 35mm
• Bore: 19mm
• Weight: 44g
• Filter: 9mm

Design Berlin Rügen Green 9mm Bent Billiard 85045A Green pipes aren't something you see every day. I've had just about every shade of brown briar imaginable across the counter over the years, but a handsome emerald-green number like this is enough to catch the eye.

The Design Berlin Rügen Green 85045A is a German-made Bent Billiard, finished in a rich green stain that allows the darker grain of the briar to show through. The result is a lovely marbled appearance, particularly around the rounded bowl and sweeping shank.

Despite the name, Design Berlin now manufactures its pipes in Schweina, Thuringia, having originally been established in Berlin. It's a firm with German pipe-making roots, and the Rügen collection takes its name from Germany's largest island, up on the Baltic coast.

The shape is a traditional Bent Billiard, with an upright bowl, a nicely rounded heel and a gently rising shank. The black mouthpiece follows the curve beautifully, giving the pipe a comfortable-looking profile and a pleasing balance between bowl and stem.

A slim silver-coloured band marks the junction between briar and mouthpiece, while the little gold DB emblem adds a finishing touch. Nothing extravagant, just a few carefully chosen details that work rather well together.

The pipe is designed for 9mm filters, a familiar arrangement among German pipe makers.

What I particularly like about this one is that the unusual colour hasn't come at the expense of the shape. Underneath that striking green finish is a thoroughly traditional briar pipe, built around one of the most enduring designs in the trade. And there's certainly no danger of confusing it with the dozen brown Billiards already sitting in your rack.

Although if the wife asks whether you really needed another pipe, I'd advise against telling her you bought it because it matched the curtains.