Castello 55 vs 65 Black Searock And Where To Buy

[Celius]

So I really got interested i Italian pipes, besides a Ser jacopo, I would also to buy a Castello pipe.
I narrowed it down to 55 and 65 shapes, both in black searock.
But I have a hard time to decide.
I do like billiard shaped pipes, but the 55 is the most iconic Castello pipe.

I also cant find a balck searock 55 anywhere, its always sold in brown finish.
Any advise where I can buy one in black? Which store has the best price?

And last thing about sizing, does kkkk roughly coresponds to group size 5?
Seems the 4k is the most common size.

 

[burleyboy]

I have a kk Castello 55 and I‘d say it corespondents with a Dunhill group 3 or 4 pot shape as far as chamber size is concerned. Speaking generally for all the Castello shapes, I‘d say the kkkk size can vary between group 4 and 5. Even among same shape, same size Castellos there can be a difference in the actual size.

When it comes to finding a particular Castello, I recommend contacting Luca from our site sponsor Tabaccheriacorti.com. He frequently visits the Castello „factory“ and I‘m sure he‘ll find one for you.

 

[Celius]

I have a kk Castello 55 and I‘d say it corespondents with a Dinhill group 3 or 4 pot shape as far as chamber size is concerned. Speaking generally for all the Castellos shapes, I‘d say the kkkk size Varys between group 4 and five.

When it comes to finding a particular Castello I recommend contacting Luca from our site sponsor Tabaccheriacorti.com. He frequently visits the Castello „factory“ and I‘m sure he‘ll find one for you.

Thanks!
I will contact him.
I think 3k would ve the best size for me.

 

[burleyboy]

I wish you good luck finding one. I once asked Luca to find a quite rare Castello and I was holding it in my hands about a month later.

Here is my kk 55 next to a Dunhill group 4 shape O. The second photo shows a current 4104 Dunhill on the right.

 

[ssjones]

Floppy Pipe is another great Italian vendor, who have access to some unique Castellos.

Floppy Pipe

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en.floppypipe.it

 

[Celius]

Thanks a lot for the shop recommendations. Wouldnt find this ones by myself.

I think I will go for the 55 shape, since most of my pipes are billiards already.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Floppy Pipe is another great Italian vendor, who have access to some unique Castellos.

Floppy Pipe

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en.floppypipe.it

Floppy has more 55’s than any Italian vendor. Their shop stamp is s55. Not everything appears on the web. email them with your specific requirements.

Castello “size grading” doesn’t strictly comply with any standard. I have a drop dead beautiful pi option Sea Rock 65 with a fancy stick bit and a very unusual style of carving. If it was a plain Black Sea Rock with a standard saddle bit and a rough top, I would expect it to be a kk. It is stamped kkkk. Why? The money. Coppo charges more for really nice ones, so they get an extra k or two. A friend was at an Italian shop with no internet presence, saw the pipe, sent me a cell phone picture, and I bought it immediately even though he told me that it was small. I consider it a bargain.

Both shapes are made in fairly large numbers in the Black Sea Rock finish. Bollito is also a site sponsor, and again, an email with your requirements should work. Davide is very easy to work with. Make sure and tell him, and/or Luca at Corti, how much you appreciate his sponsorship of this site.

 

[ssjones]

Every Castello fan needs a 55 and a 65, two must have shapes. So you can't go wrong with either.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Every Castello fan needs a 55 and a 65, two must have shapes. So you can't go wrong with either.

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”. How much chin do you want on the 55? Want a really short one? Lots of choices out there, as with 65’s.

I finally found an 11 that pleases me. Took me the better part of three years. And it was “just” a plain Black Sea Rock. I got a nice price, but I would have gladly paid 100% of US MSRP plus shipping if I had had to. I would have taken the shape in other grades or finishes, but I had a particular look to the shape in my minds eye, and it finally came along, as I was sure it would.

Take your time, look around, see what is out there. Do a lot of window shopping. In addition to the sites named here, even if you don’t intend to buy from them, check out Noli, Novelli, Rizzi, Lanzola, Casaro, eBay, CupoJoes, Smoking Pipes, and, last but far from least, Briar Blues. Castello has made gorgeous pipes for over 70 years. No need to rush.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

A site sponsor, Pipes2Smoke, also usually has a nice selection of Castellos. Pipestud, another site sponsor, often has unnsmoked Castellos in his weekly eBay auctions, and smoked ones of course.

 

[alaskanpiper]

55, Tabaccheria Corti

 

[mso489]

I don't own a Castello, but as with any pipe, I'd take weight into consideration. With generally similar pipes the lighter weight pipe gets picked up more often by me. For what it's worth.

 

[Celius]

Thanks a lot for all the recommendations! I wouldnt be able to find all the sellers myself. Was quite busy in the last few days, but will do some further research in the next few days.

 

[Celius]

I don't own a Castello, but as with any pipe, I'd take weight into consideration. With generally similar pipes the lighter weight pipe gets picked up more often by me. For what it's worth.

What Castello size would you go for in that case?

 

[alaskanpiper]

I like the 55 in the full KKKK.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

speaking of Castellos, prior to buying I do always check the weight, anything weighing over 40gr and I will pass up

 

[Bengel]

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[jojoc]

I may be completely wrong, but my understanding was the K rating was the grading, not the size.

 

[Celius]

I may be completely wrong, but my understanding was the K rating was the grading, not the size.

As far as I understand, that was the case in the beginning (?), but it later changed from frading to size of the pipe.
But I might be wrong too.

 

[burleyboy]

I may be completely wrong, but my understanding was the K rating was the grading, not the size.

As far as I understand, that was the case in the beginning (?), but it later changed from frading to size of the pipe.
But I might be wrong too.

The K's refer to the size of blasted and rusticated pipes. On smooth Castellos they are about grading.