What does "K" markings mean on castello smooth pipes?

[Uguccione]

Then there are other rumors about Castello's K. It seems that some privileged retailers (I'm talking about historic shops, those with greater customers and therefore greater purchasing power), not only could choose the best pieces (and this is quite normal), but also had the power to influence the number of K to put on the pipe.
It also seems that sometimes the number of Ks was increased, after the fact, by dishonest shopkeepers. This would be the reason why - at a certain point - Castello began to write the k's inside an oval.

 

[chilllucky]

Yeah, if I ever make pipes I'll be sure to complicate the hell out of it. It's the only way to make it clear that it's a luxury pipe.

For my moose grade pipes, you'll have to count the tines on the rack to figure out the grade within a grade. Dall sheep grade pipes, you have to count the growth rings, and Muskox grade pipes will all be based on the millimeter differences in the size of the horn bosses. Seal grade, Walrus grade, and Sea Lion grade will of course depend on cock length, Caribou grade the number of antler shovels, and Bear grade will be either black, grizzly, brown, or Kodiak which you will be able to decipher by the size of the shoulder hump.

All of these will of course have their own graphite, mica, lithium, bronze, copper, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, and unobtanium grades within their existing grade stamps.

As far as years go, you have to read the numbers backwards, divide by 13, add 24, and then multiply by 2.6. After that you simply add 7 and that's the year.

Size will be indicated only by ancient Pictish inscriptions, as found on the Lunnasting Stone of the Shetland Islands. But in reverse order. For blasts that is, Smooths will say large, medium, and small. With small being the largest.

And I will not make rusticated pipes like some kind of acolytic fool.

Can it really be considered "luxury" if you don't have to set up a prism array or home radio-spectroscopy imager just to read the stamp forwards?

 

[briarblues]

Then there are other rumors about Castello's K. It seems that some privileged retailers (I'm talking about historic shops, those with greater customers and therefore greater purchasing power), not only could choose the best pieces (and this is quite normal), but also had the power to influence the number of K to put on the pipe.
It also seems that sometimes the number of Ks was increased, after the fact, by dishonest shopkeepers. This would be the reason why - at a certain point - Castello began to write the k's inside an oval.

I had also heard similar rumors. That changed in 2019 when I first visited the Castello workshop and selected pipes for the website. All the pipes a retailer selects are ungraded at the time of selection. Then graded by Franco in batches, from what was selected. After I made my selection Franco told me he would grade the pipes. I boldly asked if I might "grade" them first and then be shown how he viewed each of the pipes. He agreed and I offered my "guesses". I was correct for just less than half. Franco took the time to explain why my guesses did not match his, far better trained eye. I had over graded the ones I was incorrect on. He pointed out spots, lose grain patterns and "grain flow to shape" that his trained eye viewed as lower the k values.

 

[hyperstar]

Case closed.