Castello Sea Rock “Amicizia” Rusticated Billiard 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.’

This is not your average Castello. It doesn’t have a shape code or even a size grade stamped alongside the typical Castello nomenclature. Instead, it simply has the letter “A.” There’s a reason for this. Pipe-makers will sometimes gift their pipes to business partners or acquaintances, rather than wholesale them to be sold by vendors. One notable example of this is Dunhill’s “Not for Sale” and “C” stamped pipes, and another is Castello’s “A” pipes. For Dunhill, the “C” stands for “complimentary,” whereas for Castello, it stands for “amicizia,” or “friendship” in English. These pipes are very rare, as they are only given out occasionally to friends of the workshop, but sometimes they turn up, as this one has.

The condition is fair. There was some heavy rim darkening, which has been professionally removed, but some darkening remains. Minor finish fading. The price has been adjusted accordingly.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.71 / 18.03mm

Bowl Depth: 1.33″ / 33.78mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 26g