Holy Grail - Sav Guibileo d'Oro 320KS Fiammata

[ssjones]

I'm down to two empty slots on my Holy Grail list. A Savinelli 320 was one, but it had to be a Guibileo d'Oro and with an older, vulcanite stem - why make it easy, right? Well, Dave J spied this one on Ebay and gave me the heads up. I missed it by one dollar - but the winner stiffed the seller and he offered it to me. I finished it this evening, so two major Italians achieved all on the same day.
After buying the pipe, I noticed it had the additional "Fiammata Straight Grain" stamping. I can not find anything on this stamping. I emailed Savinelli, got no response. Mike G also was not sure how often it was used. Guibileo d'Oro pipes are one in a thousand, so he suspects this is even more rare.
It is a monster of Authors, earning the KS stamp, it weighs in a 70 grams.
Here's the Reborn Pipes write-up, a relatively simple restoration:

https://rebornpipes.com/2016/08/03/savinelli-guibileo-doro-320ks-fiamatta-restoration/

After

 

[agnosticpipe]

That is a great pipe Al! I have the same GDO in a smooth finish that had bad burns on the outside so I ended up changing the shape of the pipe a little to get rid of them. Wonderful smoking pipe though. Congrats!

 

[philobeddoe]

Lovely Al, that pipe is simply gorgeous, congratulations.

 

[shaintiques]

Very nice love that shape! So what are the other Holy Grails you seek?

 

[ssjones]

Last one left on the list - Comoys 256 (Author). The list started with 20 pipes five years ago.

 

[buckaroo]

My old smooth GDO 320 is a favorite. Congrats and that is a very rare stamp.

 

[mackeson]

Very nice! Color me green with envy. It always feels good to finally find one you've been looking for. Enjoy that sucker!

 

[jerwynn]

Fantastic! :clap:

 

[papipeguy]

Great find, Al.

 

[pagan]

Congratulations, very nice pipe

 

[pappymac]

I have the La Savinelli Giubileo d"Oro 510KS. It's a smooth bulldog. I found it at a street fair for $3 and had it cleaned real good.

I sent photos of it and all the markings to Savinelli and got a response that it dates back to the 1970s.

 

[ssjones]

That's a heck of a find pappymac, let's see her.

 

[papipeguy]

I'm curious, what does the KS mean?

 

[ssjones]

papipe guy & others - I've rec'd some PM's and questions via the Reborn Pipe blog about Savinelli specific features. But, I'm far from a Savinelli expert! In fact, I can only restate what I've read. I recently replied to a PM about the KS size, filter stems, etc. I copy my last reply here in hopes that it might prove helpful to others. I find it very curious that almost no Savinelli information is available.

In restoring some Autographs a few years ago, I learned that early pipes had vulcanite stems with no filter. In 1982, Savinelli switched to acrylic, filter stems. I've also learned there isn't a lot of Savinelli info out there at all, save for some on the Autograph and Guibileo d'Oro lines.
I assume that any pipe made before 1982 would be vulcanite stemmed and no filter, but I can't guarantee that. So, you have to search for one that has a vulcanite stem. I didn't actually know mine was truly no filter until it arrived, as the seller had no tenon pictures. I have a few of their plastic adaptors somewhere (and have used them in my two Dunhill filter pipes). The adaptors work well, but I really like vulcanite stems, so that was a prerequisite for my 320.
I'd actually prefer my 320 to be a little smaller, but from what I've discovered the 320 only seems to come in KS and EX oversizes (EX pipes run 79 grams, my KS is 70). I'm a little surprised that there isn't much Savinelli info out there, given how long they've been in business and their popularity. No brand specific forum or club exists. The Pipepedia page is also very sparse.

 

[bobpnm]

Beautiful 320 KS! I have three. All great smokers. None a guibileo. Congratulations on a great find!

 

[ssjones]

I'm smoking the first bowl this evening, some MM965 (shocker). Very nice and so far, nary a ghost.

 

[docwatson]

Great pipe there Al. I have one 320 straight grain smooth and it's a favorite. A GDO is one rare puppy, lol..Congrats.

 

[danielplainview]

Stunning pipe SS. It was worth the wait. Welcome to the 320 mafia.

 

[ssjones]

Welcome to the 320 mafia

That made me laugh!

 

[ssjones]

I did hear back from Savinelli, kind of what I assumed (the Straight Grain stamp is rare, but they don't track the usage). I need to go on vacation for a month too!

Dear Mr. Jones,

thanks for the interest in our products and in our company. We apologize for the late answer, we were closed for the entire month of August.

Only one in a thousand pipes can earn the Giubileo d'Oro stamp, even rarer is to get the stamp “Straight grain Fiammata”, it is an almost unique case. We are not be able to say how many pipes can get this stamp because it is really rare to assign the stamp to an already rare pipe.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further information.
Best regards
Savinelli Team