Glad I Quit Collecting the 904s

[Chasing Embers]

There seems to be a recent shift of change in Savinelli's 904 shape. This appears to be the current rendition shown here on their 2022 St. Nicholas offering that I picked up to hang from the Christmas tree.



Gone it seems is the graceful, tall sweeping arc at the front of the bowl as well as the severe transitions from the front to the bottom and the back of the bowl to the shank the bowl is shorter. It seems they've thickened and softened everything that once made the shape catch my eye that had lasted for decades.

 

[STP]

You have to post pics of your Christmas tree

 

[mortonbriar]

The details are everything when you have a small item, and with such functional parameters...those lines need to feel right!

 

[mortonbriar]

I love side by side comparison of something changing with the times.
This is off track, but here is a comparison of wood vices, I have the 1920's model.
record vice

 

[Chasing Embers]

You have to post pics of your Christmas tree

So far it'll only have three pipes on it.

 

[jaytex1969]

The details are everything when you have a small item....

That's what SHE said!


I agree on the shaping. It has lost some charm.

EDIT. I like the old briar better, but actually like the changes to the stem, ie- the more sloped transition from the saddle portion.

 

[Chasing Embers]

but actually like the changes to the stem, ie- the more sloped transition from the saddle portion.

Other than the thickness of the stem to match the thicker shank, the bend hasn't changed much. Here's the stem one of the Giubileo d'Oros I had back in 2020.



The change seems to have started with their Bacco line started last year but just thought it was a fluke.

 

[jaytex1969]

Maybe it's the angle of the pics and also my less than precise statement.

I was referring to the transition from the "flat" of the saddle stem to the round portion of the stem. I like the more gradual slope in the first pic vs. the seemingly more "stepped" transition from the 50's pipe:

 

[romaso]

Maybe the new guy at the factory made the chunky one?

 

[mso489]

In terms of design, I too prefer the more pointed heel. It gives the shape vigor and definition. The newer version looks like a half-hearted yacht.

I like it that Savinelli has stuck with its 404 yacht shape even into the Rossi 8404 line. I picked up my first one as an unstamped unfinished basket pipe at my local independent B&M, and was pleased that I'd spotted a good pipe without knowing its brand.

 

[georged]

Indeed.

Every subtle difference is in the direction of "requires less talent and/or time to make", too.

Hm. Every is more than just a trend, isn't it?

Welcome to the 21st century. When the King of Everything is no longer Excellence, but cost accounting.

 

[mso489]

Someone at Savinelli may think that the less accentuated heel is more traditional looking and therefore more marketable. As with automobile design, sometimes the new improved version ... isn't. Remember the New Coca Cola? My wife visited a Texas Coke bottling plant when that came out, and they said they didn't have a VCR player to play the tape to tell them how to make it. And they winked. And they were right.

 

[georged]

Speaking of Sav's 904, here's the best one I've ever seen:

 

[georged]

 

[Philosopiper]

I recently got the flambé 904. I think the shape is a little less bland than that of the pipe in the first pic in the OP. But The curves are indeed less drastic than the old versions. I’ll probably try to get my hands on an older one, since I’m liking even this version

 

[Chasing Embers]

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Yeah, I had three of them. Two were 9004s and yours still has an oxidized stem.




Thankfully I threw all of them out but the alligator and the new one.

 

[warren]

There seems to be a recent shift of change in Savinelli's 904 shape. This appears to be the current rendition shown here on their 2022 St. Nicholas offering that I picked up to hang from the Christmas tree.

Fascinating! Thanks!

 

[Briar Lee]

I learn something new here every day.

I can get my pick of new 304 pipes for about a hundred dollars, a few more and few less, on eBay.

And, with variations, that number shape has been made for a century.

I have a young friend who goes out and collects arrowheads from the local creeks, and he claims that anything both hand made and functional becomes less decorative and more functional over time.

We do debate over who made the arrowheads though.

He thinks the men made them, and I say about as many men who can hand stritch a quilt today did.

I’ll have to get my own 304.


All things equal, the ones with the fanciest grain should have been made in the late 1930s.

 

[condorlover1]

Strange but true!

 

[LotusEater]

Subtle changes in a preferred shape are frustrating. I have a similar issue with the GBD 9664.
I usually love the 9664 shape but the heal is “wrong” on many of the ones that come up for sale - the angle is different and it’s more rounded than the versions I really like.