Autograph Smooth Fan (0) (6mm) Tobacco Pipe

Achille Savinelli set out to break the Italian government's monopoly on tobacco when he opened his own smoke shop in Milan in 1876. Though clay and meerschaum ruled the pipe market in those days, Achille had faith that the briar pipes he designed and had manufactured in Varese would make a breakthrough, and he was right. Production of Savinelli pipes continues to this day, with its Autograph line representing the company's finest products. The line's incredibly high standards, including specially-selected briar, limit the number of Autographs Savinelli can make each year. Savinelli grades its best Autographs on a descending scale of 000, 00, and 0, followed by 8, 6, 5, 4, and 3.

Savinelli saw fit to grade this Autograph Fan a "0," and it's easy to see how it ended up in the upper echelon of their portfolio. The briar portion of this pipe is quite literally fan-shaped, with no delineation of shank or bowl other than the holes drilled to make room for the stem and the chamber. Absolutely beautiful flame grain decorates the briar all the way around, reaching up in tendrils from a small patch of birdseye on the very bottom of the fan. The briar is finished smoothly and stained a light brown that gives the eye completely unimpeded access to the grain. Plateau of a similar color covers the top of the fan, and a slender stem of dark and milky green acrylic stamped with the golden logo of the Autograph line finishes the piece with great contrast.