Savinelli New Art Pipes?

[macaroon]

I assume at least some of you all have seen Savinelli's recent lineup of "new art" pipes. From the descriptions it seems the pipes' bits are acrylic, but then transition to briar where the stems fit into the stummels? They look quite attractive, but those acrylic/briar combo stems make me nervous. Has anyone heard anything about their durability, or had any firsthand experience with pipes built in this manner? It just seems like such an odd thing to do. Is there any benefit other than the aesthetic?

 

[mso489]

A link would help members comment. I checked out the indexed Sav series on smokingpipes.com and didn't find it.

 

[jeepnewbie]

New Art

 

[johnbarleycorn]

I think they are beautiful pipes. Strongly considered getting one until I decided on getting a Moonshine pipes deviled egg.
The sav I considered shown below:
https://m.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/savinelli/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=207908

 

[swhipple]

Pipes with acrylic stems and briar stummels have been around for awhile and I haven't heard complaints about the fit or durability. I have a few pipes with this type of stem and I like them just fine. An acrylic stem feels a bit harder to the teeth but that hardness means it's harder to get tooth marks in it as well. They also don't oxidize the way vulcanite will.

 

[macaroon]

Thank you for sharing the link, jeepnewbie, I shoulda included that in the original post!

John, that is a one good looking hunk o' briar! I enjoy seeing all these great shapes with saddle stems.
So what I'm hearing is that there aren't issues with the multi-material stems? It seems like the parts oughta come out of alignment or separate over time, but perhaps my concerns are unwarranted.

 

[buckaroo]

I had a smooth 207. It was solid. Typical Sav quality. Not sure how they do it, but there was nothing to worry about imho. Originally this was a fairly expensive line. The predecessor line was The Design series which I wish they would bring back. Anyway, I bought way too many pipes some years ago and ended up selling it without even smoking it. Mine came in a nice suede covered box if I remember right.

 

[mso489]

Thank you for the link! Any doubt about the durability relates to a materials question, can the briar be merged "permanently" to the acrylic? Savinelli is obviously proud of its history of quality, so I would suppose this has been entirely worked out, from past efforts by Sav and probably other pipe makers. Some of their shanks have intricate combinations of woods that work in a durable way, so I'd say, problems are unlikely.