Ser Jacopo: Reading the Stem Logo

Welcome: what this guide can and cannot do

Welcome. This guide helps you place a pipe stamped SER JACOPO.

Most Ser Jacopo pipes carry no year and no date code.

The logo on the stem gives a wide window. Two yearly lines can give the exact year.

Each rule below has a rank: high, medium or low.

1982

From Mastro de Paja to Ser Jacopo

Pesaro is a town on the east coast of Italy.

In 1981 Giancarlo Guidi and Bruto Sordini left the Pesaro firm Mastro de Paja.

Guidi started Ser Jacopo in 1982. Pipedia says the name comes from an Italian nobleman.

The full name is Ser Jacopo dalla Gemma.

Sordini later left. Our Don Carlos cabinet follows his own brand.

Pipedia says the shop makes about 6,000 pipes a year.

Mounts, grades and lines

A mount is the decorated ring between the bowl shank and the stem.

Ser Jacopo is known for mounts of silver, gold, horn, stones and rare woods.

The entry lines are Geppetto and La Fuma Finché Tira. Modica is the line of seconds.

The top line is the Gem series. A real stone sits in an 18k gold ring on the stem.

From lowest to highest: Smeraldo, Granato, Zaffiro, Rubino and Brillante.

These are emerald, garnet, sapphire, ruby and diamond.

The Picta pipes copy pipes seen in paintings, for example by Van Gogh or Magritte.

1983–1997

The stem logo: coral dot or silver J

Pipedia says early pipes from 1983 to 1997 have a red coral dot on the stem.

Sometimes the coral dot sits inside a silver ring.

The coral dot was then replaced by a letter J in sterling silver.

A Gem series pipe shows its stone in a gold ring instead.

Pipephil also shows a grey dot on the lowest grade. We hold no years for it.

1996

Domina: the pipe of the year

Pipedia says the Domina line began in 1996.

Each year has one Domina design, made in 333 numbered pipes.

Each Domina comes with a printed booklet. It shows the Domina of every year so far.

With the booklet, or a year on the pipe, a Domina dates itself.

2009

Historica: one design each year

The Historica line began in 2009. Each year brings back one design by Guidi.

Pipedia lists the models: Delecta 2009, Nauta 2010, Senecta 2011, Luciano 2012.

Then 30° 2013, Calabash 2014, Dome 2015, Captain Warren 2016, Lacus 2017.

Then 35° 2018, Mons 2019, Pulchra 2020, Picta Van Gogh 2021.

Then 40° 2022, Picta Magritte 2023 and Cymatium 2024.

So a pipe stamped Historica with one of these names gives its year.

Careful: Delecta and Pulchra are also used outside Historica, for example on Gem series pipes.

The marks to read

The shank usually reads Ser Jacopo, Fatta A Mano, In Italia and Per Aspera Ad Astra.

Fatta A Mano means made by hand. Per Aspera Ad Astra is the house motto.

A finish code is also stamped. R means rusticated, S means sandblast, L means smooth.

A number after the letter gives the colour or grain, for example S2 or L1.

Pipedia says the L3 grade, extra straight grain, is no longer made. We hold no end year for it.

Maxima means an oversized pipe. Maxima Maxima means a giant pipe.

2012

Giancarlo Guidi

Pipedia says Giancarlo Guidi died on 6 August 2012, aged 64.

Pipephil gives a birth year that does not fit that age. The sources disagree.

The workshop kept working after his death.

We know no sure way to tell a pipe made before his death from one made after.

Traps we see often

Picta numbers, such as Picta 06, name a painting. They are not years.

Finish codes such as S2 or L1 run across many years. They do not date a pipe.

A missing logo dates nothing. A stem may have been replaced.

Mastro Geppetto pipes were made by Ser Jacopo. Do not read them as Mastro de Paja.

Windows from the marks

Each row comes from our Ser Jacopo cabinet.

Changelog

• 2026-10-23 — First published. Every year comes from our Ser Jacopo cabinet and our saved Pipedia page.