Jacono's philosophy on pipemaking is almost spiritual in nature; he believes every piece of briar has a soul, and as the pipemaker, it is his job to find it. Tonino crafts about 400 pipes each year from Calabrian briar, and every step, from the selection of the block to the final polishing, is performed exclusively by Tonino himself. His family is in the briar business in Italy, so it's no wonder that his pipes are made from extremely lightweight, superb smoking briar.
Jacono's grading basically follows the hierarchy of chess pieces, with the exception of the "Jack" grade, which falls between the Bishop and the Queen. So, the grading scale is as follows: Knight (rustic), Rook (rustic/smooth), Bishop (smooth), Jack (smooth, light stain), Queen (straightgrain), King (straightgrain, very clean). The Queen and King grades also have subdivisions, denoted by one or two "E" stamps.
Jacono recently increased their US retail pricing straight across the board. Knights are now $225 retail, but due to a special purchase with our supplier, all of our rustic Knight grade pieces are being offered at a nice discount.
This particular piece is a black-over-red rustic Knight grade Foursquare Panel with an oval shank and smooth rim. The pipe features Jacono's beautiful craggy rustication, medium-large capacity, and a handcut taper stem.
Markings read: JACONO, HAND MADE, ITALY, knight. Measurements: 5 1/4" long, bowl is just about 1 1/2" wide and just over 2" tall. The pipe weighs 59 grams. About a Dunhill group 5 in capacity.
Condition:
10 out of 10. Unsmoked and perfect. Complete with sleeve.
