Castello Collection Smooth Freehand 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.’

While most Castello pipes are crafted according to an established shape chart, and while historically this has been the case since the workshop’s founding, this particular Castello is quite different. In a way not unlike some of the make’s Great Line pipes, this one looks instead to have been carved “freehand,” at least in the Danish sense. It does share a lot of similarities in form to Danish freehand pipes, especially with its jagged plateaux rim, though without going so far as to end up looking like a Preben Holm, or a Nording freehand. It’s a Collection grade, one of the highest the workshop produces, but I don’t note any “K” stamps indicating a secondary grade, whether upper- or lowercase. I wonder whether this might be a pre-K Collection from before the late 1960s. It’s hard to tell, but the pipe is certainly a unique specimen from the venerable Italian make.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening, finish fading, slightly over-reamed chamber, and handling marks. These are minor imperfections that won’t impact the performance of the pipe, but I’ve adjusted the price in any case, which should make for a very affordable Collection grade.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 1.06 / 26.92mm

Bowl Depth: 1.99″ / 50.54mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g