Claudio Cavicchi: Smooth Bent Dublin with Olivewood (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, and all of these are the case with this bent Dublin. This is an especially stylized take on the shape, presenting with a pinched transition that forms a pointed spur on the underside of the shank. This spur draws the eye and marks the start of a subtle taper to the end, where the shank is capped with a band of black acrylic and a flared, domed accent of olivewood that acts as the junction to a stylized stem of black acrylic. Up front, the bowl stands on a rounded heel with a subtle bit of distension near the fore, and it supports walls that flare subtly toward a flat rim and urge forward dynamically: insulating a capacious chamber. Dressed in one of Cavicchi's iconic honey-blonde stains, this pipe has earned the carver's CCCC-grade, with a wrapping band of flame flowing through the flanks of the shank and flowing across the bowl while birdseye populates the rim.