Mastro Geppetto: Pipe of the Year 2024 Rusticato with Silver Tobacco Pipe

As a subsidiary of the Ser Jacopo brand, Mastro Geppetto creates pipes of a similar playful nature, their shaping style falling in line with the Pesaro tradition of their forebear. In addition, Geppetto, too, makes a pipe of the year: a limited edition release comprising a single, unique shape across various finishes. This bent Billiard is their selection for 2024, and it showcases a Stack-like construction that centers the visual weight squarely at the fore.

This bowl stands on a rather pronounced heel, one that pushes down just a bit past the transitional area, and the heel supports tall walls that bow out softly toward a mid-set waist before straightening as they reach to the rim. These walls are thick and nicely insulate a capacious chamber, perfectly suited to extended smoking sessions that are sure to be comfortable, given the bowl's soft curvature. A wide transition pairs the bowl to a comparatively sleek shank, one that tapers as it lifts up to meet a stylized dome of silver carved in a pattern of repeating Pinocchio heads, the brand's iconic logo. This dome marks the junction to a sleek saddle stem of black acrylic whose base flares out to the bit, with the slender bit possessed of an understated downturn that lends this piece a comfortable smoking posture. Dressed in a craggy rustication and a deep, warm stain, the briar is rich with texture to appreciate.