Cavicchi CCCC Grade Smooth Belge Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

In 1974, after growing impatient waiting for a pipe he’d ordered, Claudio Cavicchi decided he would simply make his own pipe instead. The former farmer from Bologna, Italy, spent the next 15 years making pipes, until his work took off and received widespread acclaim. Cavicchi’s pipe making exploits have only become more renowned in the decades since. Today, Cavicchi’s pipes hold a firm place at the top of an extraordinarily competitive Italian high-grades scene, being as carefully and meticulously crafted as they are beautiful. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Claudio himself is a world record holding slow smoking champion.

I’ve brought up Claudio Cavicchi’s near-unrivaled versatility many times before. He can turn an Anglo-French large billiard with grain comparable to the highest grades on the Dunhill Dead Root line, an Italian-style Dublin leagues ahead of most of his compatriots, or indeed a Danish horn that one might mistake for the work of Jess Chonowitsch. This one surprised me, though—not in terms of quality, as it is an unsurprisingly masterful work, but in terms of its shaping. After all, the form this one takes is unlike just about anything produced in the artisan scene today, and indeed unlike the pipes produced by factories for the last 100 years or so. Though it bears some of the hallmarks of the Rhodesian, its tall, tulip-like bowl and lengthy shank bring it closer to the “Belge” and “Belgian” designs that originated in clay pipes centuries ago. These designs were often transposed into the medium of briar at the latter’s outset, and notable examples can be found in old Kaywoodie and Charatan catalogs, but it’s by no means a common shape today. Cavicchi’s study is quite fascinating and, as already mentioned, masterfully executed. The transition from straight grain to birds-eye right around a bowl’s bead-lines, for example, is always impressive to see someone pull off, as is the case here.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim charring and chamber slightly over-reamed. This pipe comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.90 / 22.86mm

Bowl Depth: 1.84″ / 46.73mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g