Rinaldo Skipper YYYY (3) Rusticated Acorn w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

As with so many of today’s premier Italian workshop makes, the story of Rinaldo begins at Mastro de Paja. The latter was a workshop founded by Giancarlo Guidi (later of Ser Jacopo) and Giannino Spadoni (later of Fiamma di Re), which the brothers Elio and Guido Rinaldo worked for as teenagers in the 1970s. At the end of the 1980s, the two departed Mastro de Paja to found their own make under their surname. Thus, Rinaldo was born.

Not unlike Ser Jacopo and their many Latin appellations, Rinaldo’s “Skipper” refers, quite simply, to the distinct style of mount affixed to the pipe’s shank end. And, again not unlike Ser Jacopo, the rest of Rinaldo’s sprawling nomenclature, such as the “Y” symbol denotes various features of the pipe. Unlike Ser Jacopo, however, Rinaldo’s nomenclature tends to be inspired by ancient Greek, rather than its most ubiquitous linguistic descendant. Had it the space for any more stamping, for example, I’d imagine this would be marked as a Lithos, coming from the ancient Greek líthos, meaning, roughly, “stone,” as this is what the Rinaldo brothers dub their rusticated pipes. The “Y,” which is actually the ancient Greek Upsilon (Υ) functions as the primary grading unit, which runs, ascending, from Υ to ΥΥΥΥ for rusticated pipes (this one getting top marks, quite justifiably). The circled “3” is a secondary grading unit, referring to the degrees of labor involved in crafting more elaborate shapes (again running ascending from 1-3). All of which makes this Rinaldo quite the pipe but, then again, that could be ascertained just by looking at it.

The condition is great. Some very minor inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.76″ / 44.70mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g