Italian Estates: Claudio Cavicchi Smooth Billiard (CCCC) Tobacco Pipe

Claudio Cavicchi is truly a master of his craft, and his ability to coax the best possible grain out of every piece of briar will always astound me. His over 50 years of experience ensures that his pipes are not only beautiful, but expertly shaped and precisely drilled. This Billiard is a rather classic rendition of the timeless shape, though one which has been crafted with some subtly neoclassical dimensions. The full-bodied bowl here offers a wealth of substance in the hand, with ample curvature for comfort, and its walls take on a sleek bit of taper toward a smooth rim. A wide transition gives way to a comparatively sleek stretch of shank that's interrupted by a pair of black acrylic accent bands before the aft end of the shank takes on a slight dome. Here it meets a slender stem of tapering black acrylic that pushes further visual weight onto the fore and keeps this pipe's silhouette rather slim. Dressed in one of Cavicchi's iconic honey-blonde finishes and graded four C's out of five, the bowl is wrapped in dense flame grain and the rim and underside are draped with birdseye.