Savinelli Roma Lucite 320 KS, Italian Estate, Era Undetermined

This reference example documents a Savinelli pipe from the Roma Lucite line, bearing shape number 320 KS and fitted with the firm's 6mm filter system. As the line's name indicates, the stem is cut from lucite, an material favoured for its resistance to oxidation and its ability to hold a polished surface without the periodic maintenance that demands. The pipe is accompanied by a 6mm filter arrangement, a system closely identified with Savinelli, whose 6mm balsa insert became one of the company's signature contributions to filtered pipe design; the pipes can also be smoked without the insert or with an adapter fitted. Savinelli occupies a foundational position in Italian pipe making. Within that chart, the 320 is among the firm's best-known numbers, widely associated with a bent author form of generous, rounded proportion, and the KS suffix denotes the King Size rendering of a shape — a larger execution of the standard pattern. The Roma designation identifies one of Savinelli's named production series, each of which pairs the standard shape chart with a particular finish and stem treatment; in this case the pairing is with lucite mouthpiece work. Dating therefore rests on the production span of the Roma Lucite series itself, and this example is accordingly bracketed only as belonging to that line's period of manufacture, its precise year left undetermined.