Title edited. No all caps. See rule 9 please.
New Pipe Day – New to me Cesare Barontini (with my older Ilio Barontini)
My favorite grab and go pipe is my Ilio Barontini which I bought in the late eighties or early nineties. I had told a night manager at my local tobacconist (B&M) that I was looking for a bent pipe with straight grain around the sides and birdseye on the bottom and the largest bowl he could find in his inventory. About two or three weeks later he told me he went through every pipe in the backroom and found a Barontini Gran Duc … with approximately a 20mm x 51 mm Bowl. It is one of my best smoking pipes. It always fills, burns and smokes perfectly, for me, every time.
I started to research Barontini and found out that Cesare’s father and grandfather were Briar harvesters and Cesare went into the pipe making business and still makes hand made pipes with his daughters Cynthia and Barbara. But Cesare’s cousin Ilio wanted to make pipes and Cesare helped him set up shop between 1980-1990. He went out of business in 1990 … nobody knows what happened or where he went. Some speculate to work for another manufacturer and some speculate Cesare took over his business. No one seems to know. A commenter on an online site said Ilio’s pipes were machine made but I have been unable to find any proof of that or any serious confirming source. Barontini pipes continues to advertise Hand Made … perhaps to dispel that rumor.
Back to the present: I wanted to try a 9mm pipe and I wanted to try a spigot pipe because I like the ease of use of military stems. I casually perused the pipe sites and Ebay for several months and found my new pipe. A Cesare Barontini half spigot pipe that seems to be a very close match to my original Ilio Barontini.
I consulted two highly experienced and knowledgeable members of this forum by PM who allayed my fears and confirmed my suspicions that this was a nice pipe with Sterling Silver half spigot from a reliable seller (whom I hadn’t heard of before). So I am truly grateful for their sound advice. I love the grain in both pipes and the spigot is a much lighter pipe with approximately a 20mmx52mm bowl. I can’t wait to see how it smokes and am trying to decide on which tobacco to smoke in it first.
CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE COUSINS ??? :
Cesare on top and Ilio on bottom: Note Sterling Silver is reflecting briar so it looks discolored but isn't - there are fine lines on that section:
Ilio on top and Cesare on bottom:
Ilio on left and Cesare on right:
New Pipe Day – New to me Cesare Barontini (with my older Ilio Barontini)
My favorite grab and go pipe is my Ilio Barontini which I bought in the late eighties or early nineties. I had told a night manager at my local tobacconist (B&M) that I was looking for a bent pipe with straight grain around the sides and birdseye on the bottom and the largest bowl he could find in his inventory. About two or three weeks later he told me he went through every pipe in the backroom and found a Barontini Gran Duc … with approximately a 20mm x 51 mm Bowl. It is one of my best smoking pipes. It always fills, burns and smokes perfectly, for me, every time.
I started to research Barontini and found out that Cesare’s father and grandfather were Briar harvesters and Cesare went into the pipe making business and still makes hand made pipes with his daughters Cynthia and Barbara. But Cesare’s cousin Ilio wanted to make pipes and Cesare helped him set up shop between 1980-1990. He went out of business in 1990 … nobody knows what happened or where he went. Some speculate to work for another manufacturer and some speculate Cesare took over his business. No one seems to know. A commenter on an online site said Ilio’s pipes were machine made but I have been unable to find any proof of that or any serious confirming source. Barontini pipes continues to advertise Hand Made … perhaps to dispel that rumor.
Back to the present: I wanted to try a 9mm pipe and I wanted to try a spigot pipe because I like the ease of use of military stems. I casually perused the pipe sites and Ebay for several months and found my new pipe. A Cesare Barontini half spigot pipe that seems to be a very close match to my original Ilio Barontini.
I consulted two highly experienced and knowledgeable members of this forum by PM who allayed my fears and confirmed my suspicions that this was a nice pipe with Sterling Silver half spigot from a reliable seller (whom I hadn’t heard of before). So I am truly grateful for their sound advice. I love the grain in both pipes and the spigot is a much lighter pipe with approximately a 20mmx52mm bowl. I can’t wait to see how it smokes and am trying to decide on which tobacco to smoke in it first.
CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE COUSINS ??? :
Cesare on top and Ilio on bottom: Note Sterling Silver is reflecting briar so it looks discolored but isn't - there are fine lines on that section:
Ilio on top and Cesare on bottom:
Ilio on left and Cesare on right:
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