Ardor Urano Fantasy 2020 Bent Egg Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Like many Italian workshop brands, Ardor pipes are a family affair. The name itself is an acronym of Angelo Rovera and Dorelio Rovera, father and son pipe-makers who created the brand in 1972. The Rovera family’s history with pipes goes back much further, however, as Angelo’s own father, Francesco, had previously established the Sociedade Rovera pipe company with his brothers in 1911. All Ardor pipes are completely hand-made from briar that has been seasoned for at least 4-5 years, and the brand is noteworthy for its playful and innovative approaches to design. As a result, Ardor pipes are both quintessentially Italian, while also being somewhat different, having a style that is wholly their own.

Like most of the great Italian workshops, Ardor has their own rustication style under the name, ‘Urano,’ which is the Italian form of the English, ‘Uranus.’ Most of Ardor’s lines are named after celestial bodies, in fact, such as the Venere (Venus), Giove (Juputer), and Meteora (meteor). The Urano could be considered Ardor’s answer to Castello’s Sea Rock, though I find the former to be more rugged and rustic than the latter. This Urano also holds the “Fantasy” designation, used for pipes with extra special adornments, such as the sterling silver and amber-like ferrule seen on this one.

The condition is great. There’s some very minor rim darkening and a small section of the lip of the rim is slightly out of round. There’s also a small scratch on the rim, but it’s purely cosmetic. Nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g