Alexander Sokolik

In 2011, Ukrainian native Alexander Sokolik happened to come across a YouTube video of a pipe made by Tom Eltang. As Alexander puts it, “this pipe changed my world.” After this chance encounter Alexander began to explore the hobby of pipe making, trying to capture the same beauty revealed in Tom’s pipes with his own hands. This initiated a career change for Alexander who quickly made the transition from hobbyist to full time carver. Along the way he discovered the vibrant and thriving artisan community in the Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

Alexander draws a lot of inspiration from the Danish masters, like Tom Eltang, but also from other influential artisans such as Hiroyuki Tokutomi, Keiichi Gotoh, and Michail Revyagin. As such, Alexander prefers the freehand to the classic, and his pipes possess a unique sculptural quality. Alexander has already created several unique variations of shapes all his own, such as his “cello fish,” “stingray,” “hammerhead shark,” and other variations on Danish inspired designs.

Alexander carves almost exclusively out of briar and German Ebonite. Embellishments are usually subtle and out of beautiful natural materials like Black Palm, Boxwood, or Horn.

If you’re looking for a true sculptural, artistic pipe, the perfect unique gift, or your next high grade smoker, we encourage you to consider the singular work of Alexander Sokolik.