Caminetto New Dear Wax Drip Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

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, Guiseppe 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 hand-carved, wax-drip ‘New Dear.’

By the end of the 1970s, both Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice had departed Caminetto, and at the beginning of the 1980s, the Caminetto workshop burned down. The story of Caminetto had, it seemed, come to a close. Five years later, Robert Ascorti—son of Guiseppe and already an accomplished pipe maker under his family name—Roberto re-opened Caminetto, relighting its flame once again. There were differences, of course, between the new Caminettos and the older ones, but the exceptional quality of the pipes remained. I’ve mentioned in previous listings that I’m partial to the older Business finishes, but I’d say the New Dear has only gotten better as the years have gone by. This one, from around 2000, is fantastically executed, especially with its mixed finish approach by way of a mostly smooth rim. The variety of shapes offered by the workshop has also expanded, with this hefty bulldog (would it qualify as a bullmoose?) being a particularly striking example.

The condition is great. Very minor rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g