Caminetto: Rusticated Bent Billiard (08) (AT) Tobacco Pipe

The Caminetto workshop was founded by Luigi Radice and Giuseppe Ascorti in the late 1960s, the pair establishing the brand after a lengthy tenure with Castello. Caminetto pipes quickly became a success, their unique design language cementing them as one of Italy's most respected makers. They've become especially renowned for their craggy rustications, with many of their pipes showcasing highly textural carving across their stummels. This particular bent Billiard is a strikingly tubular take on the classic shape, presenting with a tall, stout bowl that stands atop a lifting heel and grows cylindrical walls that make a very slight taper toward the rim. The transition is quite tight, and it gives way to a thick, lifting shank that tapers subtly as it reaches toward a smartly downturned saddle stem of black acrylic, which poises this piece for comfortable smoking and easy jaw-hanging. Substantial in the hand but fairly compact at less than five inches long, this pipe is dressed in a craggy, darkly-stained rustication that covers its stummel in rich texture.