Brebbia Gemma 882 Sandblasted Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Named for the company’s home township, Brebbia was founded in 1953 by Enea Buzzi, an alum of Savinelli’s manufacturing division. Still in operation 70 years later, Brebbia is one of Italy’s oldest extant pipe companies, with production still being undertaken using simple lathes and traditional methods of hand finishing. More recently, Brebbia has also collaborated with master artisan carvers from across to design some of its pipes, such as Denmark’s Rainer Barbi, Germany’s Otto Pollner and Holger Frickert, Italy’s Fausto Fincato, and Japan’s Tsuge.

Brebbia’s Gemma is an older line from the Italian make, and as the name suggests, they were on the higher end of Brebbia’s output. There were smooth variants and partially sandblasted variants, with the sandblasted ones having very nice, crisp grain lines. The pipes were also adorned with a metal collar, which I think might have been gold plated. This one is a nice Rhodesian shape and is relatively compact, as well as exceptionally lightweight, making for easy clenching.

The condition is good. Some minor wear to the rim and a slightly effaced collar (which is partly why I presume the collar is plated gold).

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 1.46″ / 37.08mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g