For the Savinelli lovers like myself

[trouttimes]

Econo, I am on a ranch outside of Basalt at the foot of Mtn. Sopris. I'm similar-retired, jack of all trades, master of few.

 

[economistandfisherman]

Ahh, gotcha!

 

[enrikon]

So what are your recommendations in terms of brands then, Enrikon?

I do not say that the Savinelli are not good, I only say that in Italy they are not much considered by the most demanding fans, except for the top series.

But maybe it's just snobbery because they cost little.

I have only one, a vintage punto oro (pre-filter), with a beautiful sandblasting. In fact, he smokes very well.

 

[enrikon]

Edit

 

[economistandfisherman]

I only say that in Italy they are not much considered by the most demanding fans

Thanks for the background info on Savinelli, enrikon; to be honest, I would have thought Rossi would have been lowest on an Italian's scale.
Anyway, I think here in the states, for those who can't afford the high end pipes, or those like myself that just find no enhanced marginal benefit to paying large sums of money for a pipe, especially given the abuse people like myself put them through, lol, we only have about 4 options: Dr. Grabow, Missouri Meerschaum (cobs), Peterson, Rossi (owned by Savinelli), and Savinelli. In terms of quality and durability, leaving the cobs as their own separate genre, I would probably rank them from lowest to highest as Rossi, Grabow, with Peterson and Savinelli's tied as the best out of these.
So, in this particular category, to an American that wants a good briar, especially an American that can't afford much or tends to perform a ton of activities which generate dings, scrapes, etc., with their pipes, Savinelli's are a pretty highly respected brand.

 

[donjgiles]

I love Savinelli pipes. Every one I have smokes very cool and dry. I enjoy collecting some of the more uncommon shapes and the old Capri Root and Corallo pipes. New purchases from Puntos to unstained pipes have all been a pleasant experience.
Don

 

[economistandfisherman]

Just came in, not bad for 84 bucks! Lighter in color than their original picture, which is a plus in my opinion.

 

[olkofri]

Neat! The Prince is one of my favourite shapes.
I see that it came in the original packaging. Last time I bought a pipe from SPC it came in a generic case and sock.
Did it come with an adapter?

 

[cigrmaster]

I use to own a few 6mm Sav's and smoked them all without adapter or filter and they all smoked fine. You just need to adjust your packing for the wider air hole.

 

[economistandfisherman]

olkofri, if you mean the filter reducer? yes, it did (although I use filters so I don't need it). And this is my first prince; I usually gravitate to bent billiards; that said, I just smoked 1/2 of a bowl of ES 1882 Founder's Blend out of it, and I think I'm going to like this shape a lot.

 

[olkofri]

Thanks for the report. I'm enticed to buy from SPC again.
Excellent shape and size for those who can't or don't want hour-long smokes. Enjoy irresponsibly!

 

[enrikon]

Thanks for the background info on Savinelli, enrikon; to be honest, I would have thought Rossi would have been lowest on an Italian's scale.
Anyway, I think here in the states, for those who can't afford the high end pipes, or those like myself that just find no enhanced marginal benefit to paying large sums of money for a pipe, especially given the abuse people like myself put them through, lol, we only have about 4 options: Dr. Grabow, Missouri Meerschaum (cobs), Peterson, Rossi (owned by Savinelli), and Savinelli. In terms of quality and durability, leaving the cobs as their own separate genre, I would probably rank them from lowest to highest as Rossi, Grabow, with Peterson and Savinelli's tied as the best out of these.
So, in this particular category, to an American that wants a good briar, especially an American that can't afford much or tends to perform a ton of activities which generate dings, scrapes, etc., with their pipes, Savinelli's are a pretty highly respected brand.

I absolutely agree on everything.
But in Italy there are other alternatives on 100 €. I'm talking about emerging artisans. If you find the good one you can have a pipe made to measure (you tell him how you want it) entirely made by hand and without filter. Sandblasted pipes, obviously, not smooth.

Sorry for the OT.

 

[swilford]

Last time I bought a pipe from SPC it came in a generic case and sock.

Unless it was an estate pipe, that shouldn't have happened. There are a couple of other circumstances, like if it was a brand that doesn't have its own packaging like Bruyere St. Claude, but those are pretty narrow.
On estates, even unsmoked estates, we often don't have the original packaging, so we use Smokingpipes branded packaging.
So, if you received a pipe without the correct packaging and it wasn't a) an estate, or b) Bruyere St Claude (or something very much akin to it: from the Starter Kit section, for example), please give customer service at Smokingpipes a shout and they'll try to sort it out for you.
Sykes

 

[olkofri]

Thanks for the reply, Mr Wilford. The pipe in question was a brand new Vauen Basic, apple shape. I was mystified because Vauen being a major brand I expected brand packaging. The purchase was made over a year ago, though, so I'm not sure it's even worth bothering customer service over it.

 

[dare66]

I just ordered my first Savenelli the 311 I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[grettman]

That 311 looks cool. I might pick one up myself.

 

[economistandfisherman]

That 311 looks cool.

The one you're seeing the picture of is actually a Desigual 315; that said, they've gotten some new ones in that I'm salivating over for only $94...here's an example of a bent billiard a style called an Oscar Lucite, but they have quite a few shapes in this style

 

[okiepiper]

Thanks. I just purchased an Onda 642.

 

[economistandfisherman]

Smooth or rough? Both are very nice pipes, but quite a bit different in price for sure, although that smooth finish is gorgeous.

 

[okiepiper]

Smooth