Rinaldo Triade Titiania YYY (3) Smooth Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

As with so many of today’s premier Italian workshop makes, the story of Rinaldo begins at Mastro de Paja. The latter was a workshop founded by Giancarlo Guidi (later of Ser Jacopo) and Giannino Spadoni (later of Fiamma di Re), which the brothers Elio and Guido Rinaldo worked for as teenagers in the 1970s. At the end of the 1980s, the two departed Mastro de Paja to found their own make under their surname. Thus, Rinaldo was born.

Rinaldo pipes are difficult to compare to others within the Italian workshop scene, in part because the Rinaldo brothers’ designs are often even more elaborate than, say, those of Ser Jacopo. The closest comparison one could make would likely be Ardor and, just like Ardor (and Ser Jacopo), Rinaldo pipes are categorized using an extensive vocabulary pertaining to shapes, finishes, grain, finery, and so on. This plump apple, for instance, is one of Rinaldo’s smooth finishes, the Triade, a warm golden contrast stain that accentuates the flame grain patterns underneath. It is also a Titania size grouping which, as might be expected, is for larger than average pieces. The three “Υ” stamps refer to the pipe’s grade, which run, ascending, from one “Υ” to a possible four “Υ”s, after which one only finds the rare, “Fiamma” grade pipes (on a side note, this letter is not the modern Latin “Y” but the ancient Greek Upsilon). Finally, in terms of what is stamped on the bowl, the “3” in a circle refers to the additional labors involved in making the pipe, another grading scheme of sorts that runs, ascending from 1-3. It should also be mentioned that, though I did not notice a designation in the stamping, this will also be a Silver Line Rinaldo, due to the ornate, sterling silver collar it wears. With all this in mind, one might consider Rinaldo pipes to be a little “complicated,” though, as someone who has handled many of them and who owns several, I’d say a better word for it is precise.

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

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.84″ / 46.73mm

Weight: 3.6oz / 104g