MarTelo

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Gustavo Cunha in his workshop
Smooth Jatobá, a signature shape of Gustavo. This one featuring bamboo and boxwood, courtesy smokingpipes.com

Gustavo Cunha is the marTelo pipe maker. He is a nature lover and designer who is fascinated by pipes. Gustavo grew up in Diamantina, a small village deep into Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Dating back to colonial times, traditional culture, nature and beautiful landscapes are a great part of the daily lives of Diamantina's residents. Observing Diamantina's colonial architecture, Gustavo's interest was drawn by wood, which quickly became his favorite material and led him to graduate with a degree in design years later.

Working as designer for a modernist Brazilian furniture make, Gustavo had access to machinery that allowed him to make his first briar pipes, all freehands, but with classic English shapes as inspiration. In late 2013 he visited Tom Eltang, with whom he got the chance to learn about processes, tools, machines and the most important: a new life and work possibility. Back to Brazil, Gustavo bought all the necessary equipment to start his pipe making career and in April 2014 he became a full time pipe maker. He also more recently spent some time with Chris Asteriou and Konstantinos Anastasopoulos honing his craft, and readily admits he was influenced greatly by the young Greeks' work.

Gustavo Cunha uses only super dry Greek (Makis Minetos), Italian (Mimmo Romeo and Manno) and Algerian briar blocks.


Today, Gustavo creates each Martelo pipe with precision and care from his workshop in Belo Horizonte. His goal is to perpetuate the pipe-smoking lifestyle, to offer a pipe with soul — a living object, a piece that brings happiness and calmness to his clients and friends.

Contact Information:

Website: http://www.martelopipes.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martelopipes
E-mail: objetomartelo@gmail.com