Radice Rind Rusticated Stack Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Radice is one of the great Italian workshop pipe makes, belonging to a historic lineage of such workshops. The company began as a family affair, being established in 1980 by Luigi Radice, along with his son, Gianluca, and father, Paolo. But Radice’s pipe-making ‘family’ is a little larger than that. Prior to founding Radice, Luigi ran Caminetto, which he had founded with Guiseppe Ascorti in 1968. Prior to Caminetto, Radice had worked alongside Ascorti in the Castello factory, under the supervision of its owner, Carlo Scotti. It’s quite an impressive genealogy, which is clearly reflected in the quality of Radice pipes.

The ‘Rind’ is Radice’s rusticated line. It is an eminently Italian rustication style, one that wears Luigi Radice’s pipe-making lineage on its sleeve. While it takes a pebble-dash approach, Radice’s Rind finish is much finer than Caminetto’s Business and Castello’s Sea Rock Briar. When trying to figure out the significance of the name, I came to wondering whether Rind referred not to stone formations, but to the bumpy outer peel of citrus fruits, as ‘Rind’ is the same in English as it is Italian. This one is a nice saddle stack, or chimney, billiard—not too heavy, but with a very generous chamber. Based on the stamping, this would appear to be a pre-2009 make, which explains the lovely, golden patina it has already developed.

The condition is very good. Some wear to the rim and minor handling marks.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.83″ / 46.48mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g