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macaroni

Lifer
Oct 28, 2020
1,006
3,113
Texas
Ascorti and Moretti.
Yes! Ditto. I have Guiseppe "Peppino" Ascorti (Roberto's Father) I like alot. Sergio, also. From "Pipedia," I learned next of "Sergio" (under the "Caminetto" entry). Apparently, Roberto's Dad, Guiseppe "Peppino," started the Sergio company after the Caminetto fall-out and made about 1,000 pipes. One I've had (one of G. Ascorti's "Sergio") is a "spitting-image" of an early Castello 55 I've also enjoyed a lot--no surprise there :)
kindly
mike
 

vito

Lurker
Feb 4, 2016
1
2
Oh, there are so many......one of my favorite brands, Pipa Croci.
Apparently, it depends on when they were made. It seems that some of the earlier pipes (1983, when the company was founded by the two Croci brothers, Paolo and Gianni) had less than perfect workmanship, although the quality of the briar has always been outstanding, as far as I can tell.

All of mine are of much more recent manufacture (early 2000s), and the workmanship is superb. Their pipes tend to be large, with hefty bowls...and that's not including their Calumet series, which are even larger. The Calumets are (nominally) "churchwardens", in the sense that they have very long stems. However, on the largest Calumets, the stems are in sections, so you can changed the length of the pipe by adding or removing sections, or not use any sections at all, and fit the mouthpiece directly to the shank.

The wood on all my Pipa Croci pipes (I own five) varies from above average to gorgeous. especially on the higher grades (Quality Street and higher). Every pipe is made completely by hand, so no two are identical. They are all great smokers, with nice, open airways.

Truth be told, I've never understood why Pipa Croci pipes were not wildly more popular...and more expensive. In fact, I was attracted to the very first one I purchased (brand new, on eBay) because it had stunning grain and seemed greatly underpriced. When the pipe arrived, I was blown away by its quality. I purchased the second one (also brand new) from a different seller on eBay, and all the rest I bought online from a well-known vendor in Italy.

Pipa Croci pipes have never been widely available, so that probably has something to do with their lack of recognition. But at one point the Croci brothers were producing up to 3,000 pipes per year, most of which were sold in Italy or the rest of Europe.

It appears that they have retired the Pipa Croci marque, although Paolo acquired the Talamona brand (known for BIG pipes), and is still making pipes under that marque. Here's a great video showing his skill at making a Talamona plateau briar by hand:


I checked eBay and noticed that there are very, very few Pipa Croci estate pipes available. I'm not sure why, but if most of the Pipa Croci pipes out there are like mine, I can understand why their owners might be inclined to hang on to them. For my part, when I start selling off my pipes, my Pipa Croci pipes (along with my original Caminetto "CAR" [Caminetto-Ascorti-Radice] pipes) will be among the last to go.
 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
I need to update my list with Scott's Pipes, specifically the S. Klein Design line of pipes if you can find one for around $80: Scott's Pipes: S. Klein Design Technical Breakdown :: Pipe Talk - https://www.pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/scotts-pipes-s-klein-design-technical-breakdown.85629/


I keep looking for more but I never seem to be able to find pipes in stock, even on the Scott's Pipes website there are never any pipes listed: S. Klein Design - https://scottspipes.com/s-klein-design/
It makes me wonder if they have manufacturing issues or if they're all being sold offline?
 
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daniel7

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 11, 2018
560
5,811
35
Kópavogur, Iceland
I don't know how much under-appreciated these brands are, but my nominees would be: Brebbia, Stanwell, Szabó, Kaywoodie/Medico/Yello-Bole, Tsuge.
 

PipeIT

Lifer
Nov 14, 2020
4,376
26,150
Hawaii
Viprati are one of the few makers using horn for stemsView attachment 87048

Fast forward 2022 I see Genod regularly with Horn Stems.




Genod has been already mentioned, so for other under appreciated;

Cannoy, Pascuccui, Posella

P.S. Woo someone mentioned Posella! LOL ? He makes great pipes, can’t wait to buy another.