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Name: The Italian

Grade/Finish:  Grade 2 Sandblast

Price:  305 €
                Est. $473 USD
                    364 € TTC including VAT for EU buyers

Notes:  Why the name?  This old plateau block turned out to be monstrously hard and resistant to sandblasting.  I knew there was no way it would produce the sort of deep-ringed, sharp-edged sandblast that I'm known for, so I decided to try for a completely different effect.  I stained it dark and vigorously rubbed across the surface, giving it more of a smoothed, rounded look to the blast grain - much like a lot of Italian blasts I've seen.  It's a different look for me, though the effect is actually more obvious and interesting on close inspection than it might appear in the pics.  Beyond that, it just has the sort of big, chunky, large-bowled look that I tend to associate with Italian pipes, for whatever reason.

Positives:   This pipe has one of the coolest looking plateau tops I've seen!  The staining and rubbing appearance combined with extremely warbly, gnarly plateau produced a really nice looking bowl rim, with tons of detail and drama.  I know it sounds silly to focus so much on a bowl rim, but I really think it looks neat.  The pipe itself is the classic hard-working smoker - big group 6 bowl, thick walls, open draw, and nice ring grain.  The stem is handcut from German cumberland rod.  

Negatives:  None - Someone's going to get a great smoker for the money with this one.  

 
Dimensions:

Bowl Type: 2.3 cm wide-cone

Airhole Size: 5/32""

Total Weight incl Stem: 80.8 grams

Bowl Height: 6.6 cm(Bottom to lowest bowl edge)

Tobacco Chamber Depth: 5.1 cm

Length from Bowl Base to end of Bit: 15 cm

To Purchase:
All Buyers -