Castello Old Antiquari 3K Sandblasted Poker w/ Lucite Mount 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.’

The Old Antiquari is Castello’s flagship sandblast line, typically finished with a warm, reddish tan hue. In the case of this one, however, it’s been dressed slightly differently, not unlike how some contemporary smooth Castellos wear a golden contrast finish of sorts. It works just as well with this Old Antiquari, especially when paired with the Castello workshop’s distinctive approach to blast finishes. As I’ve mentioned before, Castello sandblasting falls somewhere between the “Anglo-American approach” and “Italian approach” to such finishes, typically pairing the deep and craggy, ring grain texturing of the former with an added emphasis on the briar’s vertical lines, expressed as a rugged, “netted” relief. One especially interesting thing about this Old Antiquari is its beaded Lucite army mount. In its early years, Castello made frequent use of army mounts, typically Lucite ones, though they seemed to have become far less common as the decades went by. Those were more “standard” in design for a mount, however, and even with their relative increase in frequency in contemporary Castellos, they aren’t typically like this one (and when they are, they’re more likely to be silver and mounted on a Great Line). This one is an interesting exception, and fits the overall poker shaping very well, I’d say.

The condition is great. Possibly some minor rim darkening, but pipe does not appear to have been smoked much at all.

Details:

Length: 6.1″ / 154.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.72″ / 43.68mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g