Phil Rivara

Phil Rivara is an American pipe maker working alone, who rebuilds classic pipe shapes with proportions longer and thinner than usual. His pipes are recognized by a plain PR stamp struck on the body; because no series production is done, every piece is unique.

From the Navy to the Bench

Rivara's introduction to the pipe long predates his profession. He served three years on active duty and five years in the reserves in the United States Navy; records indicate he took up pipe smoking in 1989, during his reserve years. In the years spent between Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, he built up a working history running from repair work to auto body work, from a partnership in a business to various handcraft jobs, becoming accustomed along this path to tools and machining.

His move into pipe making, however, came quite late and by chance. According to a 2013 interview, his first time sitting at the bench was roughly three years before that; to be able to make a long-stemmed "Gandalf" pipe a friend wanted, he spent more than six months researching, watching footage of factory production and taking guidance from experienced American makers such as Mark Balkovec and Chris Morgan, largely teaching himself. His workshop is shown in the 2013 interview as being in Sacramento, and in more recent sources in Eagle Point, Oregon; the exact date of the move is not documented.