Gigi Novecento Smooth Pear Estate Briar Pipe Unsmoked, 9mm

Description

Gigi pipes occupy an interesting position in the history of Italian pipe-making. The story begins with the founding of Sociedade Rovera, a pipe-making company in Varese, Italy, by the Rovera family. As members of the Rovera family left to start their own ventures, the dynasty associated with the name would be split into several companies; Angelo Rovera created Ardor with his son Dorelio; Federico created Fe.Ro; Massimilliano created Mario Rovera; Fiorenzo created Gardenesa; and Giorgio created Giorgio Rovera, along with partners Angelo and Adele Bianchi. In 1964, Luigi Crugnola, nephew of the Bianchis, took over the Giorgio Rovera make and changed its name to his own – Gigi.

From my research, I found that “Novecento” is Italian for “nine hundred” and that it is a byword for the 1900s. What’s that got to do with this Gigi Novecento pipe? I’m not sure, but the style of the pipe makes me wonder if it is referring to early-20th century pipe design. This one is a pear, one very much reminiscent of early French pear pipe shapes – aside from the interesting, acrylic, half-saddle stem, of course. The simple, light brown stain is very much in keeping with early briar pipes too. It’s easy to forget that, for a large part of briar pipe history, the choices available for pipe colors were nowhere near as broad as they are today. In this instance, the stain works well to highlight some pretty nice bird’s-eye grain patterns.

This Gigi is also completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It is chambered for 9mm filters as standard, but comes with its original adapter for those who prefer to smoke without filters.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.6″ / 40.64mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g