Castello Old Antiquari 4K Sandblasted Lovat Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Founded in 1947 by Carlo Scotti, Castello quickly became known for producing some of the finest smoking pipes in the world. Over the years, the people involved in making Castello pipes has changed – such as Luigi Radice and Sergio Ascorti, who developed their skills in the Cantu workshop before leaving to start Caminetto, or the handing of the reigns of the company to Francisco ‘Kino’ Coppo after Scotti’s passing – but the superlative quality of Castello pipes has not. It is not without reason that Castello is known as ‘the Italian Dunhill.’

The Old Antiquari is Castello’s flagship sandblast line, typically finished with a warm, reddish tan hue. Such is the case for this particular Castello, which happens to be a stellar example of the workshop’s technique. In a fashion somewhere between the Anglo-American and Italian approaches to sandblasting, the bowl on this Antiquari is both deep and craggy in its texturing, with ring grain prominently circling its bowl, while also giving emphasis to the briar’s vertical lines, expressed as a rugged, “netted” relief. Were it not for the shaping (this one looks like Castello’s “15” billiard/Lovat hybrid), one might even mistake it for an early Ashton— an Old Church, perhaps.

The condition is fair. Some finish fading, handling marks, and a slightly over-reamed chamber.

 

Details:

Length: 6.0″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.38″ / 35.05mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g