Not a Savinelli St. Nick but a Rossi Vulcano

madox07 · Jan 1, 2018

Since I didn't get me a pipe for Christmas, I was haunting the internet hoping that perhaps I would stumble over something for new year's. I saw an e-bay posting for a brand new Savinelli Rossi Volcano 320 ... which I thought it was a Savinelli St Nicholas, not reading the title all the way to the end. I place a bid, and I am not expecting to be winning the auction since I know that savinellis go a bit higher than what I have budgeted. The last thing before I leave the office I am thinking to myself though, it would be nice to win since I always wanted a St. Nicholas. After a few hours I forgot about it all together. What do you know, a couple of days later I get an automated message from ebay telling me that I won the pipe for EUR 44 and some change, less shipping. I was excited until I go to read the whole description, which was in German and I had some trouble translating, to find out it was not a st nick it was a volcano, not a savinelli but a rossi - the looks are identical, same angle, same "chubby" bowl, even the rustication is identical, the only difference I could tell is that one has Savinelly embossed on the bottom of the bowl, and the other has rossi on the side - and the different color stem of course, which in terms of length and shape are also identical by the way. Now I know that ROssi is supposed to be the low price brand of savinelli, but IN you experience would there be a huge difference as far as quality and smoke? I am a bit disappointed, so I am looking for your opinions at least to know what I have missed out on due to my error ...
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization (please check Rule #9)

dottiewarden · Jan 1, 2018

My first pipe was a Savinelli low line brand and it smokes like a charm. I would give the Rossi a chance to speak for itself. As I was, you might be pleasantly surprised.

cortezattic · Jan 1, 2018

According to SmokingPipes.com, the Rossi line is properly called "Rossi by Savinelli".

From what I've read, I infer that the difference is probably cosmetic in nature, and Rossis should smoke as well as Savinellis -- with a caveat. The wood may have fills and/or regions that are less densely grained (or even completely bald). The fills won't affect the performance; but, according to Carl Ehwa, the less densely grained wood may require more rest between smokes.

mso489 · Jan 1, 2018

I have quite a few Savinelli's, more than a dozen. A strict census always makes me nervous. One of my Sav's was a prize in the pipes magazine cartoon caption contest, and it's a beauty. Anyway, I also have two Rossi's, which are Sav shapes, one smooth matte finish and the other rusticated, a Palermo zulu and a rusticated prince. The are both non-filter pipes and have the good smoking characteristics of Savs, nice heft, good big bowls, and broke in without effort. So you will, in all probability, be entirely satisfied with your Rossi's -- maybe even dellighted...you be the judge of that.

derekflint · Jan 1, 2018

I have three...all smoke well....

mso489 · Jan 1, 2018

Rossi does good pipes in many popular Sav shapes. I think I've seen the ever popular author, the cherrywood, the prince (I own one of those), and many others. If you need a briar car pipe or travel pipe, these are good ones. Some take the balsa insert, and others don't, so just pay attention to what you are ordering. If you like Savs, you will probably be more than satisfied with Rossi.

mso489 · Jan 2, 2018

Let me just add, the purchase of Rossi by Savinelli happened a few years ago, so if you find older Rossi online, they were made before Savinelli bought the company. As I recall, the owners of the two firms were friends, but they were separate entities. So the older Rossi are by a separate company. I understand they were good pipes, but not produced under Savinelli management. The current Rossi shapes all derive from the Sav inventory. The first ones sold looked a little rough to me; this showed around the stamping and on some of the finish, not bad but a little inexact. But all that soon disappeared, and now the quality standards seem comparable to Savinelli, given that it is a lower priced line. The airways and fit and finish have been A-OK in my experience.

unkleyoda · Jan 2, 2018

I have a Rossi, it smokes just as nice as any other decent pipe.

cerfer · Jan 2, 2018

I have two Rossi Authors and an assortment of Sav 320s. I can't get a 9mm filter into the Rossi, but it's a great smoker.

spartan99 · Jan 3, 2018

I've bought two Rossi pipes and returned them both for quality issues. They are the only pipes I've sent back. No trouble with any of my Savinelli pipes. I'm glad to hear others have had a better experience.
An odd thing about Rossi pipes, given that they're Savinelli shapes, is how few of their lines are filtered. The mortise of the Messina I purchased was drilled for the 6mm Savinelli filter, and the stem was as well, but the end was permanently plugged to a standard unfiltered draw hole. I don't have strong opinions about filters, but it seemed like a dick move. Leave the stem open and provide an adapter like you do with the Savinelli pipes so that customers can choose whether to use a filter or not. Why bother making the effort to plug the stem? I considered that it's how they get you to step up to the Savinelli brand, or that there's a net cost savings from not providing the adapter, but Rossi's Rubino line does take the 6mm filter and it's their least expensive line.
Does anyone have a Savinelli that uses the plugged stem?

madox07 · Jan 17, 2018

Mail call finally in, and I am quite happy with the piece. It is considerably larger than what I expected, both in overall dimensions and bowl dimensions. Truly a volcano :lol: Would post some pics, next to a pre savinelli rossi, but it seems that postimg.cc is down :x

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