Savinelli Autograph 0 Smooth Freehhand Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

It is probably fair to say that Savinelli is Italy’s most famous pipe brand. Founded in Milan in 1876 by Achille Savinelli, the brand has continuously offered high quality pipes for nearly 150 years. Though various Savinelli lines have come and gone over the years, the brand has always been notable for putting out classically styled pipes with a distinctly Italian twist.

Like the Charatan freehand workshop in mid-20th century England, or Tsuge’s Ikebana workshop in late 20th century and 21st century Japan, Savinelli has its own, special area of the company’s campus reserved for master artisans, where non-standard pipe shapes are carved using techniques that are closer to handicraft than mechanized, mass production. The top of the line pipes produced in this workshop are the Savinelli Autograph pipes. Sometimes, these are hand-turned re-imaginings of more classic designs; other times, they’re pipes that are a little more like the Danish “fancy” freehands of Preben Holm et al.; and, most often, Autographs are somewhere in between, embodying a distinctly Italian approach to handmade pipes that sits about halfway between the English and Danish styles. Autograph pipes are also (typically) graded, using an ascending numerical system that runs from “2” to “8,” grade 8, after which there are only Savinelli’s extremely rare “0,” “00,” and “000” grades. This is an example of one of those latter grades, a “0,” and it is one well deserved. Taking the form of a slightly asymmetric, oval shank, freehand 3/4 bent Dublin, the pipe is, quite simply, superbly carved, with tightly woven straight grain lining the entirety of its large, tall bowl.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening, chamber slightly over-reamed, some small scratches on the bowl, and stem slightly over-buffed.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.99 / 25.14mm

Bowl Depth: 1.83″ / 46.48mm

Weight: 2.7oz / 78g