2000 Castello Collection Occho di Pernice Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Founded in 1947 by Carlo Scotti, Castello quickly became known for producing some of the finest smoking pipes in the world. Over the years, the people involved in making Castello pipes has changed – such as Luigi Radice and Sergio Ascorti, who developed their skills in the Cantu workshop before leaving to start Caminetto, or the handing of the reigns of the company to Francisco ‘Kino’ Coppo after Scotti’s passing – but the superlative quality of Castello pipes has not. It is not without reason that Castello is known as ‘the Italian Dunhill.’

As with language in general, Italian-speaking pipe-makers use different words to designate the same things English-speaking ones do. One example would be fiammata, used for some Italian flame grain pipes; another would be occho di pernice which, while literally translating to “eye of the patridge,” is used the same way we in the Anglophone world use “bird’s-eye.” In other words, it’s a designation for superior grain of the bird’s-eye variety, which Castello uses to distinguish pipes cut from exceptionally beautiful blocks of briar. As can be seen from the photos, Castello was not wrong to bestow such a lofty label – it really is a beautiful, chatoyant piece.

The condition is great. Some inner rim darkening and a small, superficial scratch on the underside of the shank.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.78″ / 45.21mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g