Castello Sea Rock Briar 93 3k Rusticated Bent Egg 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 Castello workshop crafts pipes in a number of finishes, but if there’s one finish that has come to define to define the venerable Italian make, it’s the Sea Rock. It may well be Castello more than anyone else that has proven that rusticated pipes can be as high-grade as their smooth and sandblasted counterparts. This one shows off the particular pebble-dash approach that helped make Castello—and many other Italian brands—what they are today. This Sea Rock Briar is a fairly large rendition of one of the workshop’s more unusual shapes, the 93 bent egg. With its tall, full-bent figure, slightly plump bowl, and slender, Lucite-mounted stem, it’s a little evocative of very early post-war Danish pipes—and is indeed possibly the closest comparison within Castello’s portfolio.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim charring at the back lip.

 

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.97″ / 50.03mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g