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Brand Dating Guides
Rossi stamped no year. Its pipes are dated by the shape of the stamp, the stem mark and the line name.
Updated 2026-10-09
Welcome. If your pipe says Rossi, this guide helps you place it in time.
Rossi made pipes at Barasso, a village in the province of Varese, north of Milan in Italy.
Rossi never stamped a year on its pipes. So every date here is a range of years.
The stamp changed a few times in the life of the firm. Each change opens or closes a window.
Our main source is the Rossi page on Pipedia, an online pipe encyclopedia. It has its own part on dating.
That page says its eras are approximate. So we keep our windows wide.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. High means strong evidence.
Medium means a good source with an approximate date. Low means a wide range or a weak hint.
1880 to 1918
Ferdinando Rossi was a tobacco goods wholesaler in Milan.
In 1880 he visited a pipe supplier in Saint-Claude, the French pipe town. He wanted the same factory work in Italy.
In 1886 he founded the Fabbrica di Pipe di Radica Rossi at Barasso. He started with 30 craftsmen.
The factory made its own electricity. Canals drove water to turbines and generators.
In 1892 the books show the first pipes sent to Brazil.
Many workers left Rossi to start their own firms nearby. So Varese became the centre of Italian pipe making.
1918 to 1946
From 1918 Leonida Rossi helped his father run the firm. Later his brothers joined him.
The firm was then called Fratelli Rossi Barasso, or FRB for short. Fratelli means brothers.
Between the two world wars, Rossi became the biggest pipe factory in the world.
The peak came in 1936, the 50th birthday of the firm.
That year Rossi had 860 workers. They made more than 50,000 pipes a day.
Pipedia says no other maker ever came near these numbers.
1946 to 1985
From about 1946, Ferdinando Rossi II, a grandson of the founder, ran the firm to the end.
After the Second World War, many smokers moved from pipes to cigarettes.
Danish pipes became famous, and new Italian makers like Castello and Brebbia did better.
By the 1960s Rossi offered more than 800 shapes. Even so, sales kept falling.
Rossi closed in 1985, one year before its 100th birthday.
Later, Savinelli took over the Rossi name. Achille Savinelli and Ferdinando Rossi had been close friends.
Savinelli now sells Rossi by Savinelli, a line of lower-priced Italian pipes.
We could not find the year this new line began. So we give no start year for it.
Start with the stamp on the shank. Look at its shape and its letters.
FRB or MFRB inside an oval points to the 1920s or later. MFRB means Manifattura Fratelli Rossi Barasso.
These letters often sit with OLD BRIAR. Some pipes also say MFD. BY ROSSI, short for manufactured by Rossi.
Rossi in joined-up handwriting, with a model name under it, points to about 1936 or later.
ROSSI in capital letters inside an oval points to about the 1970s, up to 1985. Some of these also say ITALY.
The cursive signature Nino Rossi also belongs to the last years. Nino Rossi was the last heir of the firm.
Then look at the stem. It may carry an R inside a circle, or the word ROSSI.
The R in a circle was used on cheaper pipes. ROSSI was used on the better lines.
Shape numbers do not help. Rossi had more than 800 shapes, and they give no date.
Until about 1918, most Rossi pipes said only REAL BRIAR, VERA RADICA or BRUYERE GARANTIE.
Every maker of the time used these words. They do not prove that a pipe is a Rossi.
So never name a pipe Rossi from these words alone. You need a Rossi mark or a known record.
FRB OLD BRIAR did not stop in the 1920s. Rossi kept it on cheap pipes into the 1960s.
The R in a circle also stayed on cheap pipes for a long time. It gives only a wide window.
A pipe with a twin-bore stem or a filter adapter is most likely from the Savinelli years. Pipedia gives the twin-bore story as hearsay.
Montechristo was a Rossi name for pipes with small faults. We have no dates for it.
These are the main dating marks on a Rossi.
FRB or MFRB in an oval, or MFD. BY ROSSI
Began about the 1920s. Kept on cheap pipes into the 1960s, so the window is wide.
Rossi in cursive, with a model name under it
Began about 1936, the 50th birthday. Ended when the oval stamp took over, so the end is approximate.
ROSSI in capitals inside an oval
From about the 1970s to the closing in 1985. ITALY may also be stamped.
Nino Rossi signature in cursive
The signature of the last heir. It belongs to the final years before the closing.
The better lines of the cursive Rossi years. The firm closed in 1985, so that is the last year.
Racine (rusticated by hand)
The start year is approximate. We found no later Savinelli line with this name.
Extra Grain (sandblasted)
The start year is approximate. We found no later Savinelli line with this name.
Fiamma (briar from Sardinia and Greece)
Made in very small numbers. The start year is approximate.
Weak hints. Read them together with the shank stamp.
R inside a circle on the stem
Began in the 1920s. Stayed on cheap pipes through the cursive years, so the window is wide.
Twin-bore stem
Said to mark the first Rossi by Savinelli pipes. The start year is not known; 1986 is the year after the closing.
Methacrylate stem, or a 6 mm or 9 mm filter adapter
Today's Rossi by Savinelli pipes. Methacrylate is a hard plastic. The start year is not known.
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 Rossiyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Rossi in the Shop