Radice Underwood Magnum w/ Silver Wax Drip 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.

In the beginning, there was the Epoca, a Castello line comprised of pipes carved with a “dripping wax” motif. Castello begat Caminetto, with the latter having its own, distinct line of wax drip pipes known as the “New Dear.” And Caminetto begat Radice (and Ascorti), out of which another wax drip line was born: the Underwood. Underwood pipes are a relatively uncommon offering by Radice, especially compared to the workshop’s Rind and Silk Cut lines, which I imagine is due to how labor intensive hand carving them is. This Underwood, however, is rare by any measure. It is not often that Radice offers its largest, “Magnum” size pipes, but when they do, they go the whole nine yards. At nearly 10 ounces, it’s a big pipe, with a vast rim comprised purely of root plateaux. As a final touch, this Radice has also been mounted with an ornate silver collar, typically reserved for special occasions and limited releases—as if to add one last reminder that this pipe is anything but ordinary.

The condition is great. Minor inner rim darkening, but nonetheless beautifully preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 8.5″ / 215.9mm

Bowl Width: 1.13 / 28.70mm

Bowl Depth: 2.52″ / 64.00mm

Weight: 8.9oz / 254g