Thread: Pipe of the Day

I was happy to see the mailman with a package from Rusen for me today. Two of his pipes, and I really like them both.

Blackwoods Flake in one of the pipes. My apologies to Rusen as my phone pic does not come close to doing this pipe justice.
Perfect draw and a very enjoyable hour +. I will begin breaking in the second pipe tomorrow and I promise a picture worthy
of his work.

Thanks Rusen.

Just a little Old Joe Krantz in a Castello Castello that is almost a shape 33 but has a rounded top to the bowl. I have no idea of what the shape number is.

Originally Posted by apipeguy

Just a little Old Joe Krantz in a Castello Castello that is almost a shape 33 but has a rounded top to the bowl. I have no idea of what the shape number is.

That must be a 32 & 7/8 ............

Seattle Pipe Club's Plum Pudding in commissioned Dave Neeb bent Dublin with spalted Maple insert and Cumberland stem

Originally Posted by apipeguy

Just a little Old Joe Krantz in a Castello Castello that is almost a shape 33 but has a rounded top to the bowl. I have no idea of what the shape number is.

Very nice! And OJK is an awesome burley! Well done indeed!

The photo doesn't do it justice but then again, like Glocks I used to think Sea Rocks were ugly, but after having them for awhile they became beautiful. I think they are the best smoking pipes you can get. I do love attractive straight grain and birdseye on smooth pieces, but the Castello Sea Rock is 'the bomb' as the kids say.

For younger folks who may not familiar with their history, up until the late '90s Sea Rocks imported into the USA were marked 'Old Antiquari' and had a faux diamond inlaid in the stem. The European pipes were marked Sea Rock, and had the white bar inlay. In the early '90s it was really cool to have one with a white bar, but if you didn't go to pipe shows you never saw them except in books.

There is no legible shape # on this pipe. I used to know it but have forgotten. I've had it for 15 years or so. Not on the usual shape charts. Dave Field was the USA importer for Castello in the 1980s. Also for Ashton. He wrote an article in Pipes and Tobacco magazine where IIRC he said the Sea Rocks were made from the soft heart of the briar that had absolutely no recognizable grain. So they rusticated the pipe.

Maybe that is the secret, but whatever it is, I get the coolest and driest smokes from a Sea Rock once it is broken in. Happy puffing.

I like that pipe a lot Jimmy.

I bought this pipe in a shop in Edgewater, NJ around 1991. It was $200.00 brand new and was almost white in color. Sort of a beige. Back then I had read RIchard Hacker's Ultimate Pipe Book about the old Dunhill patent sandblasts with the deep and craggy texture. Had seen photos of them, but they weren't like that anymore.

This pipe was like that and I had to have it. I packed it with the Half & Half that was my all day every day pipe tobacco at the time and lit up. I can only assume that the pipe had slipped through quality control because it tasted horrible. It was as if the briar had never been cured.

So I was stuck. I had this beautiful pipe and I couldn't take it back because I had smoked it. Maybe I could have, but I decided not to even try. Instead I smoked the damned thing until I cured it myself. Took months or years, I can't remember when it finally came around to be a good smoke, but it did.

Back in those days I never would have bought such a small pipe if it hadn't been for the beautiful blast. As I got into my 60s I began to appreciate small pipes for their flavor, and light weight. Now I prize smaller pipes.

This Ashton 1X became one of my all time favorites. I think you can see the shiny spot on the center of the shank. I was holding it in my teeth and relaxed my jaw, the pipe shot out of my mouth and hit a tile floor breaking the shank clean in two.

I was devastated. Then I figured I wouldn't give up without a fight and mixed up some epoxy. I glued the shank back together using matchsticks and rubber bands for a splint. When it was set up I drilled the mortise to clear the excess glue and I've been smoking it this way for years.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

For younger folks who may not familiar with their history, up until the late '90s Sea Rocks imported into the USA were marked 'Old Antiquari' and had a faux diamond inlaid in the stem. The European pipes were marked Sea Rock, and had the white bar inlay. In the early '90s it was really cool to have one with a white bar, but if you didn't go to pipe shows you never saw them except in books.

]

There must have been a transition period as I have several Sea Rocks with the faux diamond.

That is a fine Sea Rock. I think that Castello pipes in general are great smokers.