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Brand Dating Guides
Castello has stamped a year code since 1987. Older pipes are dated by grade letters, stamps and stem logos.
Updated 2026-10-09
Welcome. If your pipe says Castello, this guide helps you place it in time.
Castello is a small pipe workshop in Cantù, a town north of Milan in Italy.
Good news first. Since 1987, most Castello pipes carry a number that gives the year.
For older pipes, the grade letters, the stamps and the stem logo give wider dates.
Our main source is the Castello Dating and Information Guide on Pipedia.
Mike Glukler of the shop Briar Blues wrote it. Franco Coppo of Castello helped, through the importer Marco Parascenzo.
Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia. We also use its main Castello page.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. High means strong, agreed evidence.
Medium means one good source or a general rule. Low means a wide range or a weak hint.
1947 to 1968
The dating guide says Carlo Scotti began the company in 1947.
A history by R. Bear Graves for Smokingpipes.com says Carlo began carving in 1946. The two sources differ by one year.
The first pipes, from 1947 to about 1950, were stamped Mi Reserva. This means my reserve.
Later the stamp Reg No was added. It is the trademark number, not a shape number.
Graves says the early pipes were small and mostly carved or sandblasted. The stamps changed often.
Graves also says that by 1953 the firm was close to closing.
Then the American importer Wally Frank began to sell Castello in the United States.
Wally Frank had its own pipe line called White Bar. So Castello needed a new stem logo for America.
The new logo was a faux diamond, a shiny stone set in the stem.
In the mid to late 1960s, Hollco Rohr took over Wally Frank and the American sales.
1969 to 1987
In 1969 Franco Coppo joined the firm. His nickname is Kino.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Castello began to grade pipes with a large K.
In the same years, the pipes changed from machine-made and hand-finished to fully handmade.
In 1982 the large K changed to a small k inside an oval or a circle.
In 1984 and 1985 Kino took over the running of the firm.
Graves gives a different story. He says Kino took over in the early 1980s and then brought in the K grades.
We follow the dating guide, because Kino himself helped to write it. But we name both.
1987 onward
In 1987 Castello turned 40 years old. From that year, a number sits inside the castle stamp.
Add 1947 to that number, and you have the year the pipe was made.
For example, 50 inside the castle means 1947 plus 50, which is 1997.
Carlo Scotti died in 1992.
The US stamp began in 1997. It marks pipes sold through the American importer.
The KINO stamp began in 2007, the 60th birthday of the firm.
Start with the castle stamp. Look for a number inside it.
Next, read the grade. Look for SA, SB, SC or SS, a large K, or a small k in an oval or circle.
Then read the line name, such as Sea Rock, Old Antiquari, Trademark, Collection or Natural Vergin.
Read the shape number too. Shape numbers have two digits.
A 2 in front means a fancy version of the shape. A 3 in front means a unique carving.
Look at the stem logo. It can be a white bar, a faux diamond, or a black dot.
The black dot is used on pipes with white Lucite stems. Lucite is a hard clear plastic.
Some pipes carry a shop letter. For example, N1 is Novelli and LO is Lorenzi, both shops in Italy.
A shop letter tells you where the pipe was first sold. It does not give a date.
A castle number below 40 should not exist. If you see one, read the stamp again with a lens.
Big Line was used mainly from 1968 to 1972. But very large pipes kept the stamp later.
So Big Line gives only a start year, never an end year.
The white bar was the first logo. But Graves says pipes for the US have gone back to the white bar.
So a white bar alone does not prove an early pipe.
Graves says the first faux diamond was really crimped aluminium. Its start year is not known.
No one has seen a Castello with a vulcanite stem and the faux diamond, the dating guide says.
Coloured Lucite stems were used in the 1970s, but also now and then today. They give no clear date.
The stamps X, A and LOB are special marks. They give no date.
X marks a pipe collected at the factory. A means friendship and marks a gift pipe. LOB means Legendary Old Briar.
This is the only exact date mark on a Castello.
A number inside the castle stamp
Add 1947 to the number. The code began in 1987, so the first number was 40. 50 means 1997.
Use these when there is no castle number.
Mi Reserva stamp
The founding years. The dating guide says 1947 to 1949, maybe to 1950.
Size letters SA, SB, SC or SS
The guide says late 1950s to mid-1960s. We keep the window wide.
Large capital K grade
Began in the late 1960s or early 1970s. It changed to the small k in 1982.
Small k inside an oval or a circle
An oval holds two or more k letters. A circle holds a single k.
US stamp
Marks pipes sold through the American importer.
KINO stamp
Began for the 60th birthday of the firm.
A line name gives only a start year. These lines were still made later.
Old Sea Rock
A US line from Hollco Rohr, who began in the mid to late 1960s. The start year is an estimate.
Natural Vergin
First made in 1967. Made as a regular series from 1985.
Big Line
Mainly 1968 to 1972, but kept later on very large pipes. A start year only.
Great Line
Took the place of Big Line in 1972. A start year only.
A weak hint. Read it together with the stamps.
White bar on the stem
The first logo. The end year is not known, so the window is wide. US pipes later used it again.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a Castelloyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Castello in the Shop