Don Carlos 2 Note Smooth Apple Prince w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Don Carlos belongs to a historic lineage within Italian pipe making. The workshop was founded by Bruto Sordini (along with his wife Rosaria), who had previously made pipes for Mastro de Paja, where he also met Giancarlo Guidi. In 1981, Sordini and Guidi left Mastro de Paja to found their own workshop, Ser Jacopo. After years of making pipes at Ser Jacopo, Sordini once again departed to found a new venture, as he had ideas for shapes and styles that were quite different to Ser Jacopo’s established design philosophy. Sordini therefore created Don Carlos as a means of expressing this vision, resulting in pipes that are both quintessentially Italian, and bearing aesthetic that is wholly their own.

I’ve always been a great fan of the prince shape, but the one thing that the prince often lacks is chamber capacity. It’s svelte, lightweight, refined, and so on, but less suited to longer smokes than many other shapes. So, what would happen if you were to plump up the bowl on a prince to give it a little extra volume in that regard? You’d get something like this. The timeless elegance of a prince with a little more of one’s favorite blend in the hand. Of course, this being a Don Carlos, it’s not simply a slapdash hybrid. This two note grade apple-prince is a beauty regardless of the chamber capacity one might need, with its light warm finish, wealth of flame grain and bird’s-eye, and a touch of silver for just a touch of extra class.

The condition is very good. There is a slight scratch on the rim, possibly from over-buffing, though it’s a very minor cosmetic imperfection, and one not likely to be easily noticed.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Height: 1.32 / 33.52mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 40 grams