Caminetto Business Rusticated Prince Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates [SOLD]

Description

Caminetto was, and is to this day, a decisive figure in the history of Italy’s pipe workshop tradition. After spending time developing their skills in the Castello workshop, Sergio Ascorti and Luigi Radice left to found their own venture, which they named, ‘Caminetto.’ Here, Ascorti and Radice were able to create their own now-classic shapes and finishes, such as the rusticated ‘business,’ and the carved, wax-drip ‘new dear.’

The ‘prince’ is not a shape commonly associated with Caminetto. In fact, this might well be the first one I’ve ever seen. And, as might be expected, it is a distinctly ‘Caminetto’ take on the shape. The proportions are traditional, with the signature squat bowl and long, slightly curved stem found in most princes, but the pipe is also far larger than is common (around 6.5 inches), and the design incorporates two elements unlikely to be found elsewhere outside of the Caminetto family tree: a fumed, rusticated finish, and an asymmetrical, lucite saddle stem. These elements were far more common in previous eras of Caminetto manufacture, and indeed this pipe, judging by its nomenclature and ‘bird in flight’ stem logo, will likely be from between the late-1960s and the mid-1970s.

The condition is very good. There’s a little finish fading on the rim, but given the pipe’s deliberately rugged, rustic aesthetic, this is not something especially notable or noticeable.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.29″ / 32.76mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g