Savinelli: Noce (173) (6mm) Tobacco Pipe

The "173" is one of Savinelli's more unique shapes, hybridizing characteristic elements of other designs. In silhouette, the profile is a fairly straightforward Apple, perhaps a touch taller than would be considered standard and with a very slight bend to the stem, but upon closer examination the pipe's distinguishing qualities become more apparent. The shank is actually a Reuleaux triangle in cross section, still rounded but with defining ridgelines for a paneled-like motif, and such a cue matches the shank of the Italian marque's "673 KS" bent Bulldog. Following the Bulldog similarities, the bowl of the "173" sometimes features crisp beadlines just above the waist in some iterations, yet all versions always remain continually rounded and devoid of the Bulldog's typically sudden taper toward the rim.

Aptly named after the Italian word for "walnut," Savinelli's Noce line (pronounced "no-chay") utilizes a virgin-stained rustication to resemble the craggy texture of its namesake. Like the Italian marque's Spinosa and Cocco series, the Noce offers unstained briar that will darken with a patina over time, the natural medium deepening and darkening as it's smoked. Each line, however, features a slightly different texture and varying stem colors, with the Noce offering a more traditional style of rustication and boasting the most rugged finish of the three, paired to an acrylic stem of swirling caramel hues as well as one of classic jet-black.