Radice (U) Signature Smooth Snail with Briar Insert (Unsmoked Estate)

Radice is one of the great Italian workshop pipe makes, belonging to a historic lineage of such workshops. The company began as a family affair, being established in 1980 by Luigi Radice, along with his son, Gianluca, and father, Paolo. But Radice’s pipe making “family” is a little larger than that. Prior to founding Radice, Luigi ran Caminetto, which he had founded with Guiseppe Ascorti in 1968. Prior to Caminetto, Radice had worked alongside Ascorti in the Castello factory, under the supervision of its owner, Carlo Scotti. It’s quite an impressive genealogy, which is clearly reflected in the quality of Radice pipes.

Ever since Luigi’s departure from Caminetto, the Radice family have cultivated a distinct, signature aesthetic for their pipes, including recurring shapes, house finishes, and an assortment of preferred accents and ornaments. Every so often, however, the Radice family will craft a pipe of extraordinary quality that doesn’t fit so neatly into their established style. These pipes are not only stamped with the usual Radice nomenclature, but also feature Luigi Radice’s signature alongside it.

This Radice, for example, shows the make at its most figural, with a spiraling, snail-like progression in its design from the bowl through its twisting shank. It will have undoubtedly have been difficult to carve, though to have done so while capturing such beautifully fine straight grain patterns will have been something else entirely. A signature well earned, I’d say.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. A few light scratches on the outside of the bowl. This pipe comes with its original box.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.76″ / 44.70mm

Weight: 3.1oz / 88g