It seems wholly appropriate to have the very recently re-released Savinelli 140° (2022 Edition, No. 1358/2800) in this Savinelli Punto Oro 1002 Billiard from quite possibly, the
very first year that line was produced: 1958—a numbered tin ending in 58 in a pipe from 1958 seems poetic.
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As a fan of both Savinelli and Brebbia pipes, I was incredibly fortunate and excited to have acquired this very special pipe. I have never come across another example like it (and would be very happy if I did). It’s most unusual because the Savinelli Shield logo with angled (or crossed) pipes above the shield is nowhere to be found on the stummel—the only logo stamp this Punto Oro bears is what most of us know as the Brebbia Golden Gnome!
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As you might imagine, this excited and puzzled me. Naturally, I contacted the Savinelli company first. Giancarlo Savinelli thought the pipe may have been a custom order (typical for the Punto Oro line) through a company like Iwan Ries in Chicago. This may in fact be true, but, it still didn’t explain the presence of the Gnome stamp. I’m not sure of the source for the next tidbit, but, it’s widely circulated online that between 1953 and 1956, Enea Buzzi stamped the stems of his Brebbia pipes with the Golden Gnome. I’ve seen the Gnome stamped on Brebbia stems, but, I’m not sure what confirms or determines that this was done during the 1953–1956 period.
My next move was to contact the Brebbia Museum to see if they could offer any information or ideas on this curious pipe. Thankfully, Luciano Buzzi, son of Enea, was kind enough to write back to me, and patient enough to answer many of my questions, and ultimately offer knowledge that could not be found within the paucity of information online covering this glossed over period of the Savinelli company’s history.
A little background is in order to appreciate all of this: While the beginnings of the Savinelli company goes back to 1876, the company that we know and think of today began producing its own pipes in 1948. Achille Savinelli, Jr. and Enea Buzzi (founder of MPB/Brebbia pipes) were cousins and 50% partners in the Savinelli company. They preferred to use the Savinelli trademark as the Savinelli’s store was well known in Milan for selling pipes. The agreement was arranged that production was managed by Enea Buzzi in Brebbia, and sales managed by Achille in his family’s store in Milan. The first wrinkle in their arrangement occurred in 1953. That year, a lot of attention was given to an experiment by three scientists, showing that tumours could be generated by painting cigarette smoke tars onto the shaved backs of mice.
Life magazine devoted several pages to the story, and
Time cited one of the scientist’s conclusion that the case against tobacco had now been proven “beyond any doubt.” Public confidence in tobacco was shaken, and stock prices of American cigarette manufacturers plummeted (the heads of several major U.S. tobacco companies got together in December of 1953 in New York to make plans for damage control). Cigarette sales were booming in the ’50s because industrial production lowered prices. Because a lot of smokers were ex-pipesmokers, they generated an incredible demand for briar cigarette holders (most, if not all cigarettes were without filters at that time); there was an increased demand for pipes again. Due to completely different machinery, very low mark up, and large quantities to produce, Enea Buzzi refused to produce cigarette holders. The agreement was: Achille sells and Enea produces. The two men decided to separate and began parting ways in 1953 and were mostly done by 1956. In 1956, the new Savinelli factory was ready and Achille and Enea shared the staff for their Savinelli and MPB/Brebbia pipes—their cooperation lasted for special and high quality production pipes until the late ’60s (which I didn’t know and found rather surprising). The Gnome logo was created while Mr. Buzzi was still making pipes for Savinelli, and he ended up using it for his own Golden Gnome Brebbia pipes during this period of overlap (and beyond). Brebbia pipe stands (one I have is shown below) and green glass hookahs have the Gnome logo on them.
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Savinelli pipes made by Buzzi after 1956 bore the Gnome logo, but not all pipes, only the better ones (apparently for guarantee reasons—for the ones made before that date, the use of the stamp was not necessary). The Punto Oro line first appeared in 1958. Luciano Buzzi believes this pipe is probably from around the time the Punto Oro first appeared. There were two finishes available: smooth red and sandblasted black. This pipe is the latter and still has its original tube.
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