Verteramo Pipes

Verteramo Pipes is the one-man pipe workshop of Matías Verteramo, working in Argentina's southern Río Negro province. The scale of production is small: every pipe made to order comes from the same hands, from the selection of the burl to the final polish of the mouthpiece. Since briar craftsmanship in South America has a much shorter history than in Europe, workshops like Verteramo's are examples of the handmade pipe circle that has gained visibility on the continent in recent years.

Founding of the Workshop

Verteramo's start is said to rest on experiments he carried out with non-briar woods, particularly fruit-tree burls he could find locally; this is how he learned how each species behaved. After this trial period, correspondence he built up with makers abroad changed the direction of the work; among these names, records cite the Austrian maker Ludwig Lorenz. Records also give 2020 as the year the pursuit turned into a full-time job; in the same period the first comprehensive stock of materials was assembled, made up of Italian briar, Ukrainian-sourced morta, and olive wood.