Giovanni Placentile Smooth Wasp Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Other Estates

Description

Giovanni Placentile, who sold pipes under the Gio Pipes moniker, was an artisan from Canada—a land which, as I’ve noted before, makes up for its relatively low quantity of pipe makers with the sheer quality of their pipes. Todd Bannard, Michael Parks, Julius Vesz, and so on. Placentile was a carpenter before turning his attention to pipes, and I fear he may have returned to his earlier vocation, as I haven’t seen a new pipe from him in many years. This one is a very interesting take on the Rhodesian. It’s stout and stubby, with a distinctly thick shank. I’d imagine it’s what you’d get if you crossed a more classical Rhodesian shape with the Wasp shapes famously made by Wolfgang Becker. The inclusion of plateaux burl on the pipe’s underside is a nice touch, too, adding a little ruggedness to an otherwise soft and plump design.

The condition is great. Some inner rim darkening.

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.09″ / 27.68mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g