New (estate) Castello and Stamping Question

[drastic_quench]

I picked up a great find with this Castello Oom Paul at Jon's Pipe Shop in Champaign, IL. $160! Great shop - extremely courteous and knowledgeable. Nice enough to show me a $2600 Former paneled horn that I remarked on.

Back to the pipe, the chamber is very slightly out of round at the inner rim and the outside edge (?) of the rim has a little darkening, but the good is the ridiculous amount of birds eye grain on both sides and the swooping, continuous lines which are unlike any other one of Castello's Oom Pauls I have seen. You'll see that I mean when you image search for Castello oom Paul site:smokingpipes.com


This leads me to ask about the stamping and age of the pipe. The side pictured has A CASTELLO. On the underside is Carlo Scotti in an oval. The reverse is MADE IN CANTU ITALY. Any ideas on the age? Is it telling that it lacks an Occhio di Pernice stamp?

 

[Searock Fan]

This is only a guess.... The out of round could be caused by uneven reaming by the previous owner. I don't see how that would happen at the factory.

As to no Occhio di Pernice stamp, from the pics I would say it's because, although it's a crossgrain, the grain is not dense enough to make the grade. If it were a little tighter it probably would have. Anyway, a nice pipe. Enjoy.

 

[drastic_quench]

This is only a guess.... The out of round could be caused by uneven reaming by the previous owner. I don't see how that would happen at the factory.

As to no Occhio di Pernice stamp, from the pics I would say it's because, although it's a crossgrain, the grain is not dense enough to make the grade. If it were a little tighter it probably would have. Anyway, a nice pipe. Enjoy.

Thanks for the reply. I agree about the slight over-reaming. It hasn't been abused, but it has definitely already lived a life. I cleaned the stem with a surprising number of pipe cleaners dipped in Everclear before it was clean enough for my peace of mind.

I just put two and a half flakes of ABF through it for my first smoke, and it's a keeper. Although that might be a little too much of a nicotine dose for me with a bowl this size. I might have to switch it to another flake.

I've never had a full bend before. Even as a commuter pipe smoker, I usually opt for a straight pipe and some extra jaw muscle, but this was a breeze to clench. If I could start the collection from scratch, I might well have owned many of these.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I cleaned the stem with a surprising number of pipe cleaners dipped in Everclear before it was clean enough for my peace of mind.

Careful using alcohol on acrylic.

 

[drastic_quench]

Careful using alcohol on acrylic.

Thanks, I didn't submerge it or anything, but it loosened some old tar. I always make sure to run dry cleaners through to not leave anything wet with alcohol. Last thing I want is to crack a hand-cut Castello stem!

 

[Searock Fan]

Hope you enjoy smoke up the nose. They don't call Oom Pauls nose warmers for nothing.