Claudio Cavicchi: Smooth Bent Dublin with Olivewood (CCC) 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. Originally a farmer, Claudio was first inspired to make pipes after an order he placed for one with his local tobacconist took many months to fill. What resulted was not only a pipe almost exactly like the one Cavicchi was looking for, but a passion that has lasted nearly five decades, his first piece made in 1974. A world-champion slow-smoker with three titles under his belt, Claudio Cavicchi relentlessly seeks perfection in every pipe that he crafts, not only able to read grain exceptionally well but able to engineer pipes that smoke magnificently. The bent Dublin is a shape that Cavicchi crafts often and one which he's exceptionally skilled in rendering, with this example being one of his most subtly stylized iterations. Though still certainly a neoclassical piece, this pipe boasts an impressive lightness, with a lithe, gracile build that poises the shank and stem for comfortable smoking. The transition is wide, and the shank itself is lifted, extending to meet a stylized, domed fitment of olivewood at a slim ring of black acrylic, this accent marking the junction to a sleek stem of its own black acrylic: its base mirroring the shape of the olivewood's. The bowl is robust and stands on a firm heel, its walls expanding to a high-set ridge that marks its domed rim, the walls' easy curves making for plenty of comfort in the hand. Finished in one of Cavicchi's iconic honey-blonde finishes and graded three C's out of five, this piece features an uncommon display of birdseye on both flanks of the bowl, the cross grain orientation one that Cavicchi seldom utilizes.