Now that’s a Stack ! Look at that Birdseye! Great googly moogly
What’s the height on the bowl ?
Show Off Your Castello Pipes Here!
- Thread starter smokeybear
- Start date
This rather handsome Castello practically fell into my lap recently. I’d always considered getting the Sea Rock finish some day as it always seemed like such an intriguing texture, so this was incredibly serendipitous for me, as who knows when that would’ve happened if certain events hadn’t unfolded the way they did.
From what I gather, this should be a smaller pipe (KK in an oval), but to me it’s pretty much medium, at about 4cm in depth and 18mm in bowl width. If this is on the small scale, what is large?
Or better yet, how much smaller is a single K-sized bowl?
Also, I’ve read online that Sea Rock is mostly darker brown, while mine is more of a honey brown colour, or Dunhill’s Tanshell. I wonder what that’s about?
The shape ought to be a 65, and the pipe also has a Made in Cantu Italy stamp, and a barely legible Carlo Scotti imprinted as well. I’ve tried reading up on how to date this pipe, and I gathered that for the Sea Rock finish there’s only so much one can do. I’m quite confused about large and small K’s and also if/when the Scotti imprint stopped being placed on the pipes?
If anyone could tell me how old she is, I’d be most grateful.
From what I gather, this should be a smaller pipe (KK in an oval), but to me it’s pretty much medium, at about 4cm in depth and 18mm in bowl width. If this is on the small scale, what is large?
Or better yet, how much smaller is a single K-sized bowl?Also, I’ve read online that Sea Rock is mostly darker brown, while mine is more of a honey brown colour, or Dunhill’s Tanshell. I wonder what that’s about?
The shape ought to be a 65, and the pipe also has a Made in Cantu Italy stamp, and a barely legible Carlo Scotti imprinted as well. I’ve tried reading up on how to date this pipe, and I gathered that for the Sea Rock finish there’s only so much one can do. I’m quite confused about large and small K’s and also if/when the Scotti imprint stopped being placed on the pipes?
If anyone could tell me how old she is, I’d be most grateful.
Mike Glukler told us that upper case K's began in 1969 and went to lower case k's in 1982. So, I suspect that is your date range.This rather handsome Castello practically fell into my lap recently. I’d always considered getting the Sea Rock finish some day as it always seemed like such an intriguing texture, so this was incredibly serendipitous for me, as who knows when that would’ve happened if certain events hadn’t unfolded the way they did.
From what I gather, this should be a smaller pipe (KK in an oval), but to me it’s pretty much medium, at about 4cm in depth and 18mm in bowl width. If this is on the small scale, what is large?
Also, I’ve read online that Sea Rock is mostly darker brown, while mine is more of a honey brown colour, or Dunhill’s Tanshell. I wonder what that’s about?
The shape ought to be a 65, and the pipe also has a Made in Cantu Italy stamp, and a barely legible Carlo Scotti imprinted as well. I’ve tried reading up on how to date this pipe, and I gathered that for the Sea Rock finish there’s only so much one can do. I’m quite confused about large and small K’s and also if/when the Scotti imprint stopped being placed on the pipes?
If anyone could tell me how old she is, I’d be most grateful.
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I have a 2k size Sea Rock 65, but the rustication is now where near that gnarly!
Oh, interesting! I sort of presumed it’s a newer vintage but that may be because it was practically unsmoked.
Indeed I’d consider the texture quite gnarly, though I must admit I haven’t seen too many Sea Rocks to be able to compare.
Here is my 2017 KK Sea Rock. I guess it is similar, but I think your tan color accentuates the rustification.
I guess it’s from around 1997. A time of transition from Hallco import to Novelli/ Hamlin. I see these points. A brown Sea Rock, not Old Sea Rock and the diamond trademark and shape numbers faded away around this time.
Since the pipe has a Carlo Scotti stamp, within an oval it is pre 2007. Kino, within an oval, began in 2007. Lower case k means post 1982 ish. BUT ....... it has the shape number 65. The precise year that shape numbers were discontinued is something I do not have an exact timeline on.
The rustication style is different than current models. It appears deeper, and more "rounded" if that makes sense.
Ignore the color of the briar, when comparing to current offerings. IF this pipe was completed in the 1980's, then it has been siting for around 40 years. Depending on how and where it was stored could have altered the color. If left in a sunlight filled room, it would have lightened. If stored in a poorly lit area in a pipe shop, then it would have absorbed smoke etc and possibly darkened. It could also be that it was stored in a box and that was the initial color. Briar blocks do not all "accept" stain exactly the same. Some blocks "absorb" better than others. Thus the same stain applied to two different blocks might end up with a slight or drastically different final color.
The final thing to understand is ....... the pipe is stamped at the time of sale, at the factory, or the grading, is maybe a better way of explaining.
So, this pipe may have been "completed" and stamped ( Sea Rock , Carlo Scotti etc ) except the grading ( k's ) at some point pre 1982. Since it has the shape number it is a possibility. Then it may have sat at Castello in their workshop inventory drawer, OR had been set aside for some reason, and left untouched for decades.
Then found, and selected by a dealer for the retailers inventory. At that time it would have been stamped with the grade ( k's ).
Thusly, to get an exact year of creation is not possible. From the style of rustication, the shape number stamp, and Carlo Scotti stamp, I would hazard a guess that the pipe was made in the 1960's to early 80's and sold to a retailer after 1982. Plus not made in 1969, for in that year the pipe were stamped "HAND MADE".
It does not have a stamp to indicate which retailer it was sold to, nor the US stamp, which began in 1997. This narrows it's year of leaving the workshop at pre 1997.
As a final note, let me say, sometimes we "need" to know far more about a pipe than we need to. We can dive deep into a rabbit hole to find the story behind a treasure. Forgetaboutit!!! It's a great looking older pipe that will probably smoke like a champ. In the end that IS ALL that matters!!!
Enjoy it. Love it. Cherish it.
Mike
I love that kind of detail Mike! If not detailed here, eventually lost to time.
I wonder when people will stop thinking the "k" is an indicator of size? The Ks are an indicator of the wholesale price for dealers. Size is only one factor. How do I know this? Because I heard it from the horse's mouth (so to speak), the Castello factory rep explained it to me over coffee at Novelli's in Rome years ago. 
This is fantastic insight, thank you Mike! I’ve always loved knowing these details about my pipes, when possible. It’s part of the charm of having an estate pipe, knowing there’s some kind of story behind it.
As for this specific piece, based on other pipes I’ve seen in the collection and knowing nothing else, I would have dated it post 1990, as most of the pipes were around that vintage. That tracks nicely with your assumption it could have been made earlier, but sold later on, and reached it’s customer even later on.
I’m also chuffed about the colour, as I really like this hue quite a bit more than what I’ve seen online., excluding some Old Sea Rock finishes.
Well, when the Internet stops telling us, so probably never.I wonder when people will stop thinking the "k" is an indicator of size? The Ks are an indicator of the wholesale price for dealers. Size is only one factor. How do I know this? Because I heard it from the horse's mouth (so to speak), the Castello factory rep explained it to me over coffee at Novelli's in Rome years ago.
Jokes aside, when I was trying to research the pipe back when I got it, there was a lot of information like that. Sea Rock has an almost black finish, rusticated K grading indicates size, while smooth indicates grade, etc. Very little info on all those yes, but... type situations.
Since you can find "KKKK" Sea Rocks online, it doesn’t take much digging around to confuse people like me who are just starting to get their bearings in the intricacies of a marque’s stamp system.
Like, for instance, what Mike remarked about the look of the rustification. I might’ve noticed that only after peering at hundreds of images online, and even that’s a stretch. And still, even having noticed it, I wouldn’t have a clue what that means, if anything at all.
Now that you mention it, however, what are the other factors that impact a K rating/pricing in a rusticated pipe, other than size? Perhaps the shape and its perceived desirability?
Very correct. The k grading "system" is a combination of factors. For non smooth pipes it's a combination of size and thus the price. On smooth pipes, the combination is, size, grain, and thus the price.I wonder when people will stop thinking the "k" is an indicator of size? The Ks are an indicator of the wholesale price for dealers. Size is only one factor. How do I know this? Because I heard it from the horse's mouth (so to speak), the Castello factory rep explained it to me over coffee at Novelli's in Rome years ago.
The "fun" comes in at the grading time. Castello "grades" in batches, as opposed to having a set dimension "system" in the size category. Through the years you'll find very large non smooth pipes graded with 2 or 3 k's. Now you might find a "small " non smooth pipes graded with 3 or 4 k's.
On smooth pipes it takes a qualified set of eyes to judge grain quality. In 2019, I visited Castello and purchased some inventory. Franco said he would grade them. I asked if I could "grade" them and have him correct my views. I wasn't even close!!! He showed me tiny things I missed that "down graded" many of my selections. On a few they went up a step, due mainly to how the grain "laid out" on the shape, even though they may have had miniscule sand spots. It's not a simple task.