Olim by Marco Nepi Smooth Fluted Freehand Estate Briar Pipe Unsmoked

Description

Taking its name from a Latin word that roughly translates to “once upon a time…”, Olim is the pipe making moniker used by Italian artisan Marco Nepi. A passionate woodworker, Nepi originally started out as a restorer of antique furniture, with a focus on hardwoods. In 2000, he took this passion and also began to apply it to the making of pipes, first training in the workshops of his home city of Fermo. Like other Italian artisans, such as Michele Sottocasa of la Biota, Nepi’s outlook on pipes has a distinct ecological bent, with a deep respect for the natural world and the affordances it gives to man-made items. This is quite evident from the pipe seen here, with a design that takes full advantage of the briar’s straight grain and plateaux burl, while also incorporating a geometric, fluted motif. When the pipe arrived on my desk, I almost thought it might be a Charatan freehand. Color me impressed.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original, albeit slightly flaked, bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.94 / 23.87mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g