Savinelli Giubileo d'Oro Smooth with Gold (1028) Tobacco Pipe

Achille Savinelli set out to break the Italian government's monopoly on tobacco when he opened his own smoke shop in Milan in 1876. Though clay and meerschaum ruled the pipe market in those days, Achille had faith that the briar pipes he designed and had manufactured in Varese would make a breakthrough, and he was right. Briar eventually came to rule the market, with Savinelli's pipes being put on display at the 1881 Italian Industrial Exposition and continuing to be manufactured today. The original Savinelli shop still operates to this day a century and a half on.

This "1028," an interpretation of the Billiard shape, comes from Savinelli's Giubileo d'Oro line (translating to "Golden Jubilee" in English). The line's name reflects the incredible scarcity of the combination of grain and materials needed to produce such a remarkable pipe. Such are the standards that Savinelli estimates only 1 in 20,000 pipes in its selection meets Giubileo d'Oro requirements. In this case, the "1028" is a straightforward Billiard with a lightly tapered bowl, alternating cross grain and birdseye on the smoothly finished and walnut-stained stummel, and a tapered vulcanite stem reaching back from a golden accent at the junction. It's a work of craftsmanship that only comes around seldomly, quite deserving of the Giubileo d'Oro designation.