In mid-2010, I visited Ser Jacopo for the first time. Smokingpipes had carried Ser Jacopo pipes for almost a decade at that point and finally meeting Giancarlo Guidi was an extraordinary experience.

Guidi co-founded Mastro de Paja in Pesaro in 1972. In 1982, he left to found Ser Jacopo. While he was the creative force behind the early Mastro de Paja pipes, it was only with the founding of Ser Jacopo that Guidi indeed found his aesthetic voice, a voice that registered masterful clarity, range, resonance, and a bit of magic.

And I had really, really wanted to meet the guy. I knew a lot of great pipe makers from all over the world, but Guidi was different, and I was curious. There was no doubt that he was a talented pipe maker, but what really mattered was that Guidi was the mastermind behind a highly self-conscious aesthetic, a whole different approach to pipe design that was distinct from the great pipe makers of Denmark and Japan, or the far more conservative aesthetic voices of northern Lombardy. Moreover, Ser Jacopo was a focused workshop with only a handful of employees.

Guidi was an artist thoroughly immersed in the modern art movements of the early- and mid-20th-century, and that background was abundantly clear in Ser Jacopo's pipes. From the overt references of the Picta Series to the more subtle influence that the likes of Picasso and Van Gogh made on the reimagining of shapes, visual art gave Ser Jacopo its identity. Modernist art inspired Guidi, and Guidi inspired an entire approach to pipe aesthetics.

The Picta series, the first being shapes inspired by specific pipes depicted in Van Gogh's paintings, was the first — and perhaps the most overt — reimagining of other art in pipes. The Danes had Functionalism and looked to the likes of Arne Jacobsen and Mies Van der Rohe. And Tokutomi and Gotoh draw on a massive body of Buddhist art, reimagined in the 20th century as Zen Modernism. But those were subtle influences in comparison to what Guidi accomplished with the Picta series. Indeed, Guidi's exercise engaged in a notable postmodern self-referentialism: he publicly and overtly reinterpreted early 20th-century modernism by making a tangible object that had been originally incorporated in two dimensions in the medium itself. It's a gigantic and brilliant joke of Warholian proportions. If Guidi's medium had been different — perhaps something more political and socially fashionable — his work would have been at the Whitney or MoMA. Instead, much of it lands in South Carolina and on the pages on Smokingpipes.

I could happily rhapsodize further about Guidi and his under-recognized genius, but I want to talk about that first visit to the Ser Jacopo workshop that my wife (then fiancée) Alyson and I took in 2010. It was challenging. Maurizio Fraternale — Guidi's business partner by 2010 and now the owner of Ser Jacopo — was away for some sort of emergency. That meant that the day was left to Alyson, Giancarlo, and me muddling through with my non-existent Italian and Guidi's equally bad English. But muddle we did, pointing, flipping through art books, and navigating in what little Italian I could understand. As strenuous as communication was, our time together was enormously enlightening, and Guidi proved to be even more impressive and insightful than I had anticipated.

That 2010 meeting took place in Ser Jacopo's first workshop, just three or four blocks from the beach. A charming structure in the older part of town, it had considerable character but perhaps wasn't the most practical space, being very small. My two subsequent visits to Ser Jacopo, in 2014 and 2016, continued in that space. In 2017, Arcadia and Ser Jacopo (sister companies) moved to a new, larger space on the inland outskirts of Pesaro.

Sadly, Giancarlo Guidi passed away in 2012. However, he bequeathed an extraordinary body of work, an aesthetic lexicon, plans for future series, and continuity for Ser Jacopo, in the form of a clear transition to the stewardship of Maurizio Fraternale, who had already been involved both as a partner and on the sales and management side for some years.

What is most remarkable is the continuity that Ser Jacopo has accomplished since before the death of Guidi. The brand's philosophy has not deviated, and it continues to create new pipe ideas within Ser Jacopo's design language, despite losing its visionary founder in 2012.

To a great degree, that's a testament to the efforts of Maurizio Fraternale. But perhaps to an even greater degree, it's a testament to the craftspeople of Ser Jacopo. The four pipe makers at Ser Jacopo all worked with Giancarlo. Fiorella Bassistoni, for example, has been making pipes since 1980 and has been with Ser Jacopo since 1990, working alongside Giancarlo for more than twenty years before his passing.

Given the importance of Ser Jacopo's continuity, we sat together with the people responsible for making Ser Jacopo pipes. The plan was to start with the longest-standing employee and work our way to the newest, but it was sort of moot: the most recent has been with Ser Jacopo since 2013 but had a previous stint at Ser Jacopo for almost ten years in the 1990s. The good people who make Ser Jacopo pipes possess an extraordinary abundance of experience.

Fiorella Battistoni

Battistoni spent ten years working at Il Ceppo, starting at age 14, before moving to Ser Jacopo in 1990, where her skills in finishing are particularly admirable. "Final sanding," she says, "staining, finishing: I'm primarily responsible for all of the final stages of pipe making. I can do many other things in the factory, however." She gestures toward the factory floor to acknowledge that there are few craftspeople and that a comprehensive skill set is essential.

"I love all of pipe making," she says. "But, again, it's the end of the process I love best. I love seeing the pipes finished!"

After her time with Il Ceppo, she decided to transition to Ser Jacopo. "I had been at Il Ceppo for ten years," she says, "and I knew Giancarlo Guidi and his workshop."

Though skilled with all shapes, her personal taste in pipes leans into the traditional. "The classic Billiard," says Battistoni, "is by far my favorite shape."

Simone Sanchini

Simone Sanchini joined Ser Jacopo in 1994 as a young man and has spent his entire career as a Ser Jacopo craftsman. His father had specialized in rusticating pipes for Ser Jacopo, work that Simone helped with as a teenager, so the pipe-making life is well ingrained in his personality.

"I can do everything in the factory," he says, "but I mostly do the initial steps, like rough shaping and stem work. Much of my typical day is spent at the lathe. I am also responsible for much of the shape design work as we make new things at Ser Jacopo."

He has his favorite activities, however. "I like making the mouthpieces and doing the lathe work associated with drilling and very rough shaping."

Like Battistoni, Sanchini has a deep appreciation for the traditional. "I like classic shapes best. They are the most beautiful."

Stefano Sanchini

Stefano Sanchini is Simone's brother. He joined Ser Jacopo in 2012, near the very end of Giancarlo's life, to help with the workload that Giancarlo was no longer able to carry. Prior to becoming a full-time pipe maker, Stefano, like his father, sometimes rusticated pipes for Ser Jacopo. It's a skill and an interest that is evidently a common trait in his family.

"I'm primarily responsible for drilling and rough shaping," says Stefano. "And sometimes finer sanding."

He finds special personal enjoyment in seeing briar transform from rough blocks to recognizable pipe shapes. "I really enjoy rough shaping, as the pipe emerges. Seeing how it's going and adjusting as I work is particularly satisfying."

Some of the lines at Ser Jacopo especially intrigue him. "I really like the Leonardo and the Delecta," he says. "I like the size; I like the style. They're beautiful pipes. And I really like making Freehands. Freehands are fun because I have the discretion to make them as I like." That latitude is appealing, and the style of Ser Jacopo encourages his creativity.

"Obviously, the brand has a style that I adhere to, and I consult with others in the workshop and Maurizio, but it's very liberating to be able to have the freedom to shape as I wish on the sanding disk."

Simone Gaudenzi

Gaudenzi started with Ser Jacopo in 1998, remaining for four years before moving on to work for a boat manufacturer. He rejoined the team in 2013. As a pipe smoker, Gaudenzi knew and admired Ser Jacopo and Giancarlo Guidi before working at the famous workshop.

His personal preference for his own smoking is the Billiard shape. He has favorite tobaccos as well: "Mainly Virginia/Latakia and Virginia/Perique, but I like many different blends. I like Lakelands and love Samuel Gawith. And I smoke Toscano cigars — the Toscano Originale."

Well-versed in all aspects of pipe crafting, Gaudenzi's primary responsibilities at Ser Jacopo are for final shaping and fine sanding. "Sanding and shaping are my favorite parts of the process."

While he respects Billiards, in terms of craftsmanship he finds unusual shapes especially satisfying. "I love the most-strange pipes! I love Billiards to smoke, but as a pipe maker, things like the Insanus are the most interesting. I love to be able to use my imagination — my fantasia — to make something different."

Gaudenzi readily affirms that Ser Jacopo pipes are more than the sum of their parts. "Giancarlo said 'our pipes are magic.' And we use that magic to make something special."

Maurizio Fraternale, who has been nearby, adds his thought on that subject: "We are a family. And we make pipes with love."