Brebbia Oro 831 Smooth Brandy Estate Pipe, Cross Grain and Birdseye, Acrylic Fishtail Stem, 9mm Filter

In 1953 the two partners split. Savinelli built his own plant at Barasso, and Buzzi kept the Brebbia factory. The M.P.B. brand, for Manifattura Pipe Brebbia, began that year according to pipephil; another source dates its formal setting-up to 22 June 1956, after the buyout.

In 1968 the M.P.B. logo gave way to a simple gold-outlined diamond, and the brand became simply Brebbia. From the 1990s the firm has been managed by Luciano Buzzi, Enea's son, and Brebbia's modern range includes 9 mm filter pipes made for northern Europe.

THE SHAPE AND THE STEM A brandy bowl is rounded and fuller in its lower part, narrowing toward the rim the way a brandy glass does. On this pipe the bowl sits on a round shank, and the rim is smooth and flat around the chamber.

The stem is black acrylic and tapered, narrowing evenly from the shank to the bit with no step, and it ends in a fishtail, which widens and flattens at the end. Two thin gold-colored rings circle the stem at its shank end, and the brass diamond logo is on the stem. With the stem out, the tenon shows an open end for the filter.

THE FINISH AND THE GRAIN The finish is smooth and glossy. The bowl shows cross grain and birdseye, small round dots in the grain, and flowing grain lines show on the sides of the bowl and on the shank.

DATING The brass diamond on the stem is the Brebbia logo used from 1968 onward, and it is still in use today, so this pipe was made in 1968 or later; that change of logo is well documented. ORO and 831 do not narrow the date further, and the earlier M.P.B. stamp and gnome stem logo do not appear in the photographs.

THE MEASUREMENTS - Length: 140 mm (5.51 in) - Bowl height: 49 mm (1.93 in) - Bowl width: 42 mm (1.65 in) - Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in) - Chamber depth: 38 mm (1.50 in) - Weight: 54 g (1.90 oz)