There's a fair bit of confusion on Punto Oro, in part because they've varied a whole lot over the years. I've seen older Punto Oro pipes from the 1970s and 1980s that would never make the cut today. I've also seen older Punto Oros that are just jaw dropping and would maybe be Giubileo d'Oro today. So, it's not a better then or better now situation, so much as what the series means (from a grading perspective) is narrower now than it was thirty years ago. So you see a whole range of prices for Punto Oros on the estate market (hell, there's a huge range just on SPC) since there's a lot of variety in what Punto Oro meant over the decades.
Presently, the Punto Oros made are as follows:
Punto Oro -- two stems (one vulcanite, one acrylic), 6mm, generally no longer available in the US. Very good quality; fairly expensive; occasional problems with fit on second stem (it's almost impossible to get stem fit right without making the pipe and stem together; since you can't do that for two stems, one of them will fit less well almost by definition).
Punto Oro Classic -- slightly less expensive than Punto Oro, with one stem. Non-filter. Same wood grade and whatnot as above. Available in 'Natural' (a sort of very light brown contrast) and Bordeaux.
Punto Oro Petite -- See Classic, but for the smaller shapes like the 202 and 402. Available in finishes for Classic, plus sandblast.
Punto Oro Churchwarden -- See Classic, but for churchwarden length stems.
Punto Oro Gold -- A notch below the rest of the Punto Oro line, but really nice and significantly less expensive. 6mm filter. Available in an orange/brown smooth and a sandblast.
You'll see other grades available new from time to time: Corallo, EX blasts, Mr. G, and blasts with silver army mounts. These are all not in current production, but there are some new from factory pipes still out there (Savinelli did some reorganization of space and clean up and found a bunch of old bits and pieces in the past three years).
So, how does Punto Oro fit into the line:
Savinelli grades the classic shape bowls into six groups to start, ranging from unusable bowls at the bottom, through bowls used for Vittoria, through the mainline Savinelli lines, up to top quality. This top quality bucket (which is pretty tiny) gets sorted again into three different groups to become various Punto Oro and Giubileo d'Oro grades.
Savinelli Autographs have a different path completely. They're freehand shapes instead of predefined shapes, so they have their own grading and progression: things like Rossi Free at the bottom, moving up to things like Artisan, into the Sandblasted Autographs, then to the smooth Autographs. It's more complicated than that (because smaller ones become Sigla or Mignon) and wilder ones become Autograph Freestyle or Mr. A, but that's the general pattern).
So, you can't really compare Punto Oro or Giubileo d'Oro to Autograph: they're yielded by two totally different processes, and both sit atop their respective group.
As a collector, I'm kind of a huge fan of Punto Oro and Giubileo d'Oro. I have maybe five 105 shapes and a couple 202 shapes in a number of Punto and Giubileo finishes. I personally really like classic shapes and I really like the stains and quality of the work present on both series. They are more pricey than much of the Savinelli line, but I definitely think they're worth it.
As for Estella, they were quasi-Autograph seconds in the 1970s and 1980s, filling a spot that Rossi Free does now. They're cool and have their following, but comparisons to Punto Oro are pretty much impossible to make since they're just too different.
Best,
Sykes