The Briary has been doing
business with Claudio Cavicchi since 1986.
Claudio Cavicchi persuaded
a well known pipe maker to create a pipe to his personal specifications for the
Italian Pipe Smoking Contest. After a two year wait he gave up and started
making pipes himself.
He entered his first pipe
smoking competition in
1982. Each contestant is given 3 grams of tobacco. They must compete in Genoa
in March, the second round in Naples in May and the final round in Bologna in June.
The contestants must compete in all three rounds to win.
Claudio won the Italian championship
in 1983, 1985 and 1988. In 1989 he won a World Championship in Torino, in 1991 in
Brussels, in 1993 a win in Amsterdam which was a record of 3 hours 9 minutes and 3
seconds. In 1994 he ventured to Copenhagen for another world championship then later
for still another Italian win. Claudio traveled to Austria for one more world
championship in 1995.
Claudio starts with plateau X briar
that he personally selects from the regions of Calabria and Liguria. He then slowly
cures them with his secret process for a period of three years. Each pipe has a
perfectly located draft hole and acrylic mouthpiece. All Cavicchi pipes come boxed
and sleeved.
Claudio is a farmer and raises fruits
and vegetables in Bologna. He makes all his pipes at night and the vast majority are
sold in Italy at finer tobacco shops.
His
annual production is only about 600 pipes.
At The Briary, we have sold these
fine pipes since about 1986. They instantly became the best selling hand made pipes
in our shop. Why do they out sell everything? The fabulous smoking quality,
the exceptional grain as well as Claudio's ability to extract the perfect shape from a
rough block of briar draws collectors back time after time. These are truly
beautiful pieces and yes they do look great on both sides.
Please peruse our photos. But
keep in mind his small production does severely limit
availability.
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