Castillo 65 A

[lavarockpuffer]

Aloha Briar lovers,

I have a searock 65 with an A stamped on it.

This was bought a few years back from a nice guy in Atlanta who was buying estates and reselling.

The A stamp is curious in that it denotes it was special and given to a friend or made for a friend or...?

And that’s my question..

Any details on how this process would have worked at the Castillo HQ?

Mahalos

 

[sasquatch]

The "A" will be a shop stamp - which shop it was sold to in Italy. So for example the Castello I just got from Lanzola has an "L" stamped on it. Off the top of my head, I do not know which shop the "A" is. Can't be Al Pascia because they don't deal Castellos.

 

[lavarockpuffer]

Thanks for reply

According to Mike at Briar Blues site on Costello’s history he types the list of those letters you mentioned the shop

It appears A is given free to friends and are rare.

This is where I got my original info but wondering if anyone knew who made this gift or was it randomly done, etc.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Once your photos are on a photo hosting site (such as Imgur.com; Postimage; Dropbox, etc. Photobucket), or on virtually any site, (including this site's album) such as eBay, Amazon, you-name-it, select the full sized image, then Control-click (Mac) or Right-click (Windows) on the image itself, then choose "copy image location" or similar words. Now paste that URL (the full web address, which should end in .jpg or .png) into the IMG box in the reply window of the thread you're posting to.
The site's album is also a good choice for displaying photos, and the same method works for obtaining the image's URL for copying into the IMG box.

 

[bigpond]

A is for Amici, Italian for friends. This is a stamp for pipes that are given away and not sold directly.

 

[jaytex1969]

A is for aromatic. If you smoke non-aro's in there, it will self destruct... 8O

 

[Chasing Embers]

B is for briar. Sorry, had to. Post pics lavarock, we love a good pipe show!

 

[briarblues]

Many Castello dealers do have Castello stamp a specific letter on the pipes they purchase. This allows the seller, Castello, and any later dealer know the pipes source, if that information is ever needed. Here is a list of many of those dealers stamps.
N1 = Novelli ( Italy )
N = Noli ( Italy )
F = Fincato ( Italy )
LO = Lorenzi ( Italy ) ( this shop has closed and they used to add a * on every pipe )
B = Bonfiglioli ( Italy )
BO = Bollito ( Italy )
V = Agide ( Italy )
SO = Tabaccheria Scarafioffi ( Italy )
JO = Osstermann ( Austria )
R3 = Ruocco Raffaella of Savona ( Italy )
US = sold into the US via the US Castello agent
A = "Amicizia" or friendship. That is the stamping for the pipes given for free to friends. It is quite rare.
LOB = is part of a large collection that the factory just re-purchased and they stamped with LOB (Legendary old briar)
There is one other stamp used. That would be this * . I have seen this on a few pipes, but have yet to get a concise answer on why this indicator was used.
Hope this helps.
Regards

Michael J. Glukler

 

[daveinlax]

Is the pipe a small black Sea Rock with a diamond trademark stamped 65A or 65/A? 8O

 

[skaukatt]

I have a beautifully grained smooth shape 55 stamped with an "A", lovely piece. I purchased it a number of years ago in Chicago from Luca DiPiazza who told me the same thing that has been stated above:
A = "Amicizia" or friendship. That is the stamping for the pipes given for free to friends. It is quite rare.
A is for Amici, Italian for friends. This is a stamp for pipes that are given away and not sold directly.

 

[cigrmaster]

Mike, great list. I used to buy Castello's from Agide back in the day. His prices were incredible and the Euro being worth only like .83 to a US dollar also lowered the price.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

In the very distant past, say the 1950's, A,B, and C were size designations, giving way to the SA, SB and SC size designations more commonly seen in the 1960's. The only way to tell for sure, or as sure as anything gets with Castello nomenclature, is to see a picture of the stamping, particulary the relationship between the shape # and the A.

 

[lavarockpuffer]

The pipe is traditional 65 size (kkk) in an oval.

I’m working out a photo upload to show this pipe for all to view.

Thanks to all for input and interest.

LRP

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

The pipe is traditional 65 size (kkk) in an oval.

Then it is almost certainly an amici stamp, which is indeed uncommon.

 

[chilly65]

Mike,

Thanks for the list of stamps/dealers. The reason the pipes were stamped for the dealer was because Carlo Scotti did not want dealers selling or trading the pipes to other shops, particularly shops that were not Castello dealers. It was not that the dealers wanted the stamp.

Mike

 

[chilly65]

Mike,

Thanks for the list of stamps/dealers. The reason the pipes were stamped for the dealer was because Carlo Scotti did not want dealers selling or trading the pipes to other shops, particularly shops that were not Castello dealers. It was not that the dealers wanted the stamp.

Mike