If there's one thing I hated when I first started in this hobby about a decade ago, it was rusticated pipes. Don't ask me why, but I never saw one I liked. Well, as we say, tastes change, and I'm now almost exclusively drawn to sandblasted/rusticated pipes. I have, however, been attracted to Savinelli's shape 122 from the get-go, but somehow never got around to picking one up until now.
I never really considered Rossi pipes before, but I love a good bargain, and MSO and others have spoken favorably of them in several posts on here. So, when SPC had a sale on pipes earlier this month, I picked up 2 Rossi Vittorias (shapes 8122 and 8804) for under $40 each.
I haven't smoked either yet, but they look great, don't feel remotely 'cheap', and the drilling seems spot-on. I'm going to start running some smoke through them tomorrow evening, and I can't wait to give a full report.
They both have a nice craggy black rustication, well-formed buttons, and good mortise-and-tenon fit.
Here's the drilling of the draft hole on the 8804:
And the mortise:
And the drilling on the 8122:
As you may have guessed from the photos, my stovetop/kitchen counter has the best lighting in my house on cloudy days...
I never really considered Rossi pipes before, but I love a good bargain, and MSO and others have spoken favorably of them in several posts on here. So, when SPC had a sale on pipes earlier this month, I picked up 2 Rossi Vittorias (shapes 8122 and 8804) for under $40 each.
I haven't smoked either yet, but they look great, don't feel remotely 'cheap', and the drilling seems spot-on. I'm going to start running some smoke through them tomorrow evening, and I can't wait to give a full report.
They both have a nice craggy black rustication, well-formed buttons, and good mortise-and-tenon fit.
Here's the drilling of the draft hole on the 8804:
And the mortise:
And the drilling on the 8122:
As you may have guessed from the photos, my stovetop/kitchen counter has the best lighting in my house on cloudy days...
