Castello Collection Occhio di Pernice KK Smooth 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.’

One of my favorite developments in Castello’s recent history has been a branching out, by the workshop, into new finishes. This includes new finishes used on already established lines within Castello’s portfolio, such as the Collection line. Though somewhat unorthodox for Italian pipes, Castello developed their own version of what could be called a “golden contrast” stain, not unlike those used by British pipe companies (such as BBB) and Danish artisans (such as Tom Eltang) in the later 20th century. In this instance, it’s been applied beautifully not only to a two “K” Collection grade, but to an Occho di Pernice variant, Castello’s extra mark of distinction for pipes with especially good bird’s-eye patterns (occho di pernice being Italian for something like “eye of the partridge”).

The condition is great and the lighting does not do it justice. Gently pre-smoked, just a hint of finish fading on the rim.

 

Details:

Length: 5.3″ / 134.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.38″ / 35.05mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 28g