Claudio Cavicchi: Smooth Lovat (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 ensure that his pipes are not only beautiful, but also expertly shaped and precisely drilled. Displaying a good deal of height to the bowl, this Lovat from Claudio Cavicchi is a fine example of Italian neoclassical proportions. The tall, stout bowl stands proudly at the end of a comparatively svelte stretch of shank and abbreviated saddle stem, affording this pipe a decidedly bowl-forward appearance. There's a very subtle bit of flare through the shank as well, which sets this piece apart from most other Lovats and wrests a bit of the visual weight away from the bowl in a balanced fashion. The bowl itself is robust and stands on a firm heel, cultivating ample thickness about its walls' easy cinch toward a flat rim, with this thickness aptly insulating the capacious chamber quite well. Dressed in one of Cavicchi's iconic honey-blonde stains, this CCCC-graded piece displays dense flame grain around the bowl and lining the flanks of the shank, while the rim and the top of the shank are awash with a wealth of birdseye.