|
|
You may not have heard of Davide Iafisco before, but if you own a newer Luciano, you may already be familiar with one aspect of his work — for over a year now he's been one of the key carvers behind that brand's new look and shift to all-handmade designs. Even before that, however, Davide had long been hard at work learning everything he could, and as far as I can tell he still is.
Iafisco's introduction to the pipe began in 2008, courtesy of some friends who partook. At first fascinated by the ritual, then by all the varieties and nuances of tobaccos and blends (which he likens to the intricacies of another, pre-existing passion, a love for good wines), it was only a matter of time before the details and endless possibilities found in the design of smoking instruments themselves seduced him as well. With that, he just had to try it out himself. What followed were years of jumping at any opportunity to learn, and practice, practice, practice.
The first said opportunity came courtesy of courses held by Bertram Safferling, resulting in Davide's first pipe, and followed shortly by the gradual accumulation of all the equipment he would need to continue working at home on the basics he'd learned. The next two years were spent largely in practice, producing pipes either for himself or his friends. As luck would have it though, Davide happened to be acquainted with the Radices, who were generous both with helpful pointers and materials. Marzio, in particular, wasn't shy about telling Davide he should aim towards making pipes full time — but also to take his time learning and developing as much as he could on the road there.
In 2010 came Davide's next big opportunity, when Danish legend Teddy Knudsen answered an email asking for advice by telling Iafisco, simply, to come on over. Davide booked his flight to Denmark immediately, and soon was introduced, via Knudsen, to an entirely different approach to pipemaking, informed by the Danish freehand tradition. Some months later came a second trip to Teddy's, and with it the chance to meet pipemaker and briar-cutter extraordinaire Mimmo Romeo, who in turn introduced Davide to his next tutor — Claudio Cavicchi.
In short order Davide was now building a very positive relationship with the famous perfectionist, and with it learning from him an approach steeped in rigorous method, method, method, which taught Iafisco a great deal of importance in the details of "reading" the briar to get the best out of it, avoiding small mistakes that can detract from a pipe as a whole, and getting the absolute best out of those aspects of a pipe that involve work on a lathe.
So, varied and comprehensive — Safferling, Marzio and the rest of the Radices, Knudsen, and Cavicchi — Davide's received tutelage was impressive even before he began working as part of Luca di Piazza's team... which is very likely why Luca snatched him up as a pipemaker, of course. Davide didn't let up with seeking knowledge far and wide, either, as evidenced by his flying all the way to California to attend the Jeff Gracik/Adam Davidson Pipe Making Seminar just earlier this year. But what next?
What was next was for Davide to begin producing pipes as a professional craftsman under his own name — not that that meant leaving Luciano. For Davide, working for Luca is a pleasure, not the least amongst the reasons for that being that it gives him a lot of opportunity to continue, continuously, to refine the processes by which a handful of raw materials are turned into a handful of beautiful and well-engineered smoking instruments.
Nonetheless, there's a certain pride, not to mention freedom, to be had in producing work under one's own name, and now Davide Iafisco can enjoy that as well. Having now received our very first batch of Iafisco briars, we're rather enjoying the results, too.
You may also enjoy:
Comments
Eric,
Fantastic article! Glad you brought this to our attention!
M
Ciao!
I am so excited to come across this web site as l am the daughter of Mr. Giuseppe Condina, master pipe craftsman from Calabria, Italy. My Dad passed away a few years ago and l have boxes and boxes filled with his original hand made pipes and natural briar blocks ( aged from Calabria) ready to be sculpted. I am looking for a buyer and have cataloged everything onto a CD disk.
Looking forward to your response,
Rosanna Condina
| |
DAILY READER MENU
Introducing Davide Iafisco
June 8, 2015 by Eric Squires in Makers and Artists
You may not have heard of Davide Iafiscobefore, but if you own a newer Luciano, you may already be familiar with one aspect of his work — for over a year now he's been one of the key carvers behind that brand's new look and shift to all-handmade designs. Even before that, however, Davide had long been hard at work learning everything he could, and as far as I can tell he still is.
Iafisco's introduction to the pipe began in 2008, courtesy of some friends who partook. At first fascinated by the ritual, then by all the varieties and nuances of tobaccos and blends (which he likens to the intricacies of another, pre-existing passion, a love for good wines), it was only a matter of time before the details and endless possibilities found in the design of smoking instruments themselves seduced him as well. With that, he just had to try it out himself. What followed were years of jumping at any opportunity to learn, and practice, practice, practice.
The first said opportunity came courtesy of courses held by Bertram Safferling, resulting in Davide's first pipe, and followed shortly by the gradual accumulation of all the equipment he would need to continue working at home on the basics he'd learned. The next two years were spent largely in practice, producing pipes either for himself or his friends. As luck would have it though, Davide happened to be acquainted with the Radices, who were generous both with helpful pointers and materials. Marzio, in particular, wasn't shy about telling Davide he should aim towards making pipes full time — but also to take his time learning and developing as much as he could on the road there.
In 2010 came Davide's next big opportunity, when Danish legend Teddy Knudsen answered an email asking for advice by telling Iafisco, simply, to come on over. Davide booked his flight to Denmark immediately, and soon was introduced, via Knudsen, to an entirely different approach to pipemaking, informed by the Danish freehand tradition. Some months later came a second trip to Teddy's, and with it the chance to meet pipemaker and briar-cutter extraordinaire Mimmo Romeo, who in turn introduced Davide to his next tutor — Claudio Cavicchi.
In short order Davide was now building a very positive relationship with the famous perfectionist, and with it learning from him an approach steeped in rigorous method, method, method, which taught Iafisco a great deal of importance in the details of "reading" the briar to get the best out of it, avoiding small mistakes that can detract from a pipe as a whole, and getting the absolute best out of those aspects of a pipe that involve work on a lathe.
So, varied and comprehensive — Safferling, Marzio and the rest of the Radices, Knudsen, and Cavicchi — Davide's received tutelage was impressive even before he began working as part of Luca di Piazza's team... which is very likely why Luca snatched him up as a pipemaker, of course. Davide didn't let up with seeking knowledge far and wide, either, as evidenced by his flying all the way to California to attend the Jeff Gracik/Adam Davidson Pipe Making Seminar just earlier this year. But what next?
What was next was for Davide to begin producing pipes as a professional craftsman under his own name — not that that meant leaving Luciano. For Davide, working for Luca is a pleasure, not the least amongst the reasons for that being that it gives him a lot of opportunity to continue, continuously, to refine the processes by which a handful of raw materials are turned into a handful of beautiful and well-engineered smoking instruments.
Nonetheless, there's a certain pride, not to mention freedom, to be had in producing work under one's own name, and now Davide Iafisco can enjoy that as well. Having now received our very first batch of Iafisco briars, we're rather enjoying the results, too.
12345678910
Category: Makers and Artists
Tagged in: Davide Iafisco LucianoPipe Makers Pipe Making
You may also enjoy:
Interview: Luca di Piazza
Pipe Making Seminar by the Sea
Italy 2012: Claudio Cavicchi's Shapes
Comments
Sdsmusumeci On June 8, 2015
Eric,
Fantastic article! Glad you brought this to our attention!
M
Rosanna Condina On January, 21 2020 00:00:00
Ciao!
I am so excited to come across this web site as l am the daughter of Mr. Giuseppe Condina, master pipe craftsman from Calabria, Italy. My Dad passed away a few years ago and l have boxes and boxes filled with his original hand made pipes and natural briar blocks ( aged from Calabria) ready to be sculpted. I am looking for a buyer and have cataloged everything onto a CD disk.
Looking forward to your response,
Rosanna Condina
@Rosanna I'm very sorry to hear of your Father's passing. I am going to reach out to you via email to see how we can help!