Castello: Aristocratica Billiard Tobacco Pipe

Founded in 1947 by Carlo Scotti, Castello's commitment to handcrafting high-quality pipes helped elevate the reputation of Italian pipes to luxury status. Furthermore, Castello's approach to shaping helped cultivate the bowl-centric and whimsical Italian neoclassic aesthetic. This Billiard is a fine example of the talents of Castello's carvers, its muscular bowl housing a capacious chamber from atop a rounded heel while offering plenty of comfortable curvature throughout these walls' easy taper to the plateau-crowned rim. The bowl is paired to a tapering shank-and-stem combination via a wide transition, the combination lending the aft side of this pipe a sleek character and placing further emphasis on the bowl. Adding to the desirability and collectability of this example, this piece wears the fumed rim and upper bowl of the Aristocratica finish. Said finish also hearkens back to a time when Castello founder Carlo Scotti would fashion an exclusive line of pipes for his close associates, and it suits this robust shape perfectly.