Volkan Sandblasted Opera w/ Zebrawood Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Introducing the Volkan make requires a brief detour into Italian pipe history. Jean-Marie Alberto Paronelli, born in 1914, was one of the fathers of Italian artisan pipe-making, a renown he achieved through pipes made under his own name, through designs he contributed to major Italian makes, and through his distribution of other artisan makes, such as the Clairmont pipes made by Tommaso Spanu. When he was old enough, Jean-Marie’s son, Antonio Paronelli, also took on making Paronelli pipes; when Antonio’s son Ariberto came of age, he too took on the Paronelli pipe-making name. But Ariberto wasn’t the only son of Antonio to become a pipe-maker, so his other son, Alberto, created Volkan pipes as a sister make to Paronelli.

The opera is a relatively unique shape in the world of pipe design, even in a world of extravagant Danish creations. This is because, unlike most pipes, it has an oval chamber, rather than a conical one. It is hypothesized that the design was intended to be easily stowed in one’s inside jacket pocket. Regardless of its strangeness, the opera has remained a minor staple in pipe-making for around a century, and continues to attract pipe smokers and pipe-makers alike. One such artisan is Ariberto Paronelli, the man behind Volkan pipes. Here we have a suitability compact and lightweight Volkan rendition, wearing a crisp brown sandblast and accented by a ring of zebrawood.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening and a couple of dark spots on the bowl exterior that look to be from handling, or from a slight slip of the flame.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.95 / 24.13mm

Bowl Depth: 1.33″ / 33.78mm

Weight: 1.0oz / 30g