Luigi Viprati Extra Sandblasted Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Much like in Denmark or Japan, many of the great names in Italian artisan pipe-making got their start working for other greats in their famous workshops. This was the case for artisans such as Giancarlo Guidi, Luigi Radice, Sergio Ascorti, and Maurizio Tombari. Luigi Viprati, on the other hand, is one of the few self-taught Italian pipe-makers of the 20th century to have reached the same heights as such contemporaries. First picking up the craft in 1972, Viprati would ultimately become one of the defining names in Italian pipes, which he remains to this day.

You may be looking at this Viprati, wondering, ‘how on earth did he make that?’ And no, the answer is not through stitching together two separate pieces of briar, or any other subtle trickery like that. Instead, to create a pipe with such a drastic curvature like this one, you need a special kind of flexible drill – for creating curved draft holes – and a special kind of skill set – for doing it well. Thankfully, Luigi Viprati has both of these. The result is a gargantuan, snaking sitter, one that certainly deserves its ‘Extra’ grade.

Having come to us via our trade-in program from a high-grade collector, this Viprati is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating for when it is finally broken in. It also comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 7.4″ / 187.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.95 / 24.13mm

Bowl Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g