Castello Sea Rock 25 4K Stack Dublin 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 I mentioned in a listing, I’ve a pet theory about Castello’s seldom-seen, lighter-stained Sea Rock pipes. Given that the Natural Vergin (essentially a Sea Rock in a near-naked stain) wasn’t in regular production until the 1980s, I do wonder if Castello stopped making light brown Sea Rocks after that. As evinced by the uppercase “K” grading on this one, it will have been made some time between the end of the 1960s and the early 1980s, so my theory may just hold water. In any case, I have to say, this is one of the nicest Sea Rock Briars I’ve seen in a long time, which is no doubt aided by its uncommon, no. 25  stack Dublin shape, and its even rarer ruby Lucite stem.

The condition is great. Very minor inner rim darkening. The pipe comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 1.07 / 27.17mm

Bowl Depth: 2.02″ / 51.30mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g