Ascorti Business SKS Hand Made Italy Sandblast Lovat Estate Pipe, Acrylic Saddle Stem, 9mm Filter, Sleeve and Box

Ascorti in script, BUSINESS, SKS and HAND MADE over ITALY are stamped on a smooth panel under the shank. This is an Ascorti lovat in a deep, rugged sandblast, with an acrylic saddle stem made for a 9 mm filter and ending in a fishtail bit.

It has been pre-smoked and is in very good condition. It comes with its original package: a grey sleeve printed with the Ascorti logo and a red box printed "Tinder Box". The box has tears and cuts; please see the photographs for the box, the chamber, the rim and the stem.

THE MARKS
- Ascorti, in script, with a small mark after the name
- BUSINESS, below the name
- SKS
- HAND MADE over ITALY
- A white letter A on the saddle of the stem

THE MAKER
The Ascorti story starts at Castello, where Peppino Ascorti was hired in 1959. At the end of 1968 he left and founded Caminetto in Cucciago with Luigi Radice; Gianni Davoli, a Milan tobacconist, sold their pipes and later became a co-owner.

Radice left in December 1979 to start his own brand. Early in 1980 Peppino Ascorti left Caminetto too, and he took the whole crew with him. For about three months they made pipes called "Sergio"; after that the pipes carried the Ascorti name. The old workshop was lost to a fire around 1980-81, and Peppino Ascorti died in 1984. Around 1985 Roberto Ascorti bought the Caminetto name, and new Caminetto pipes followed from 1986; in 2013 Tommi Ascorti, the grandson, relaunched Caminetto.

THE SHAPE AND THE STEM
A lovat has a straight, upright bowl on a long straight shank, and it usually wears a saddle stem. This one does: the stem has a wide flat section at the shank and steps down to a thinner bit, which ends in a fishtail, flattened and widening at the end.

The stem is black acrylic, with a reddish ring between thin black lines where it meets the shank, and the white letter A on the saddle. It takes a 9 mm filter, and the photographs show the stem out of the shank.

THE FINISH
The bowl and the shank carry a deep, rugged sandblast, dark brown to black, with reddish-brown showing in the hollows. The rim is blasted as well. Only the panel under the shank is smooth and reddish-brown, and it holds the stamps.

DATING
The Ascorti name on its own pipes begins in 1980, after Peppino Ascorti left Caminetto, so this pipe was made in 1980 or later. The BUSINESS and SKS marks do not give a year, so no closer date is given.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 149 mm (5.87 in)
- Bowl height: 48 mm (1.89 in)
- Bowl width: 38 mm (1.50 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 42 mm (1.65 in)
- Weight: 39 g (1.38 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 629