Castello Pre-1982 Old Antiquari 3K Sandblasted Billiard w/ Silver 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.’

It is rather rare to see a silver mounted Castello these days, especially one with a silver army mount (or floc, as they say in Italy). If a Castello does feature a mount/floc of some kind, it’s typically the same Lucite used for the make’s stems. But Castello was a little more liberal with silverware in decades past, such as one sees on this Old Antiquari. Based on the size denotation (uppercase “K”), this one will have been made between approximately 1969 and 1982, which makes sense. Dressed in Castello’s signature sandblast finish, the Old Antiquari, the bowl showcases plenty of deep ring grain, which may well have been why the pipe earned its sterling army mount.

The condition is fair. Some finish fading, general wear to the rim, and an over-reamed chamber.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 1.09 / 27.68mm

Bowl Depth: 1.65″ / 41.91mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g