Three years after discovering the satisfaction of pipe carving, two of those years spent learning the craft in the workshop of Tom Eltang, Peter Heding resigned from the laboratory where he was a molecular biologist to pursue his love for pipes. That event transpired in 2006, and he continues to excel with each passing year. This Fish carries Heding's "Diamond" stamp, designating his highest grade in terms of briar, design, and execution, and is identified by a Zirconia diamond on the underside of the shank.

With a supple and rounded bowl, Heding maintains the Fish's characteristic dramatic cheeking, even at the transition to the somewhat unusually narrow shank. Well, unusual at least for more modern iterations, which have tended to substantial, outwardly flaring affairs terminating in a shank face as wide across as the bowl itself. The good doctor has eschewed this recent trend for a more traditional approach, flaring outwards at the horn ferrule, but only moderately, and matched by a second flare at the base of the saddle mouthpiece.

— Adam M. O'Neill