Lithos Lovat with Silver (3) (YY) Tobacco Pipe

Sicilian brothers Elio and Guido Rinaldo moved to Pesaro and started working with Mastro de Paja in the mid-1970s, founding their own titular brand in 1987. They produce about 1,500 pipes a year using briar from Liguria in northwestern Italy, and grade them from one to four Y's, or the highest grade, Fiamatta, denoting excellent flame grain.

This Lovat is graded "YY" and the stummel is decorated in Rinaldo's craggy Lithos rustication, which combines with the stain to let specks of rich cherry red shine through alongside the dark canyons that give this pipe such a dynamic touch. Straight, parallel lines run the flanks of the bowl and an ornate silver accent completes the stummel, yielding to a translucent acrylic saddle stem of amber coloring. Though straight lines rule the silhouette of this offering from Rinaldo, it is nonetheless a very playful and exciting work from the Italian marque.