Spitfire by Lorenzo Castelmonte Smooth Straight Billiard Oval Shank Estate Pipe 9mm Filter

Spitfire is not Lorenzo's name for itself. It is Lorenzo's second name - the budget sister line built from the same shapes, most of them cut for a 9mm filter, sold to a buyer who wanted a Lorenzo pipe without the Lorenzo price.

This example is stamped SPITFIRE BY LORENZO, with the model name CASTELMONTE, on the shank. It is a smooth straight billiard with an oval shank and a matching oval-profile vulcanite saddle stem, fishtail slot, bored for a 9mm filter.

Lorenzo's own history runs back to Fratelli Lana, founded in 1900 in Gallarate - the third maker to set up in the Varese pipe district, after Rossi in 1886 and Ceresa in 1897. Tagliabue, a Milan merchant house, began working with Lana from 1922, and by 1939 the firm employed 120 workers turning out budget mass pipes, many carrying nothing more than a generic Genuine Bruyere wordmark. In 1946 Tagliabue took the factory over outright, renaming it Manufattura di Pipe Tagliabue. Around 1950 Lorenzo Tagliabue took over its management, studied under Castello and Brebbia, and pushed the line upmarket with his own designs; by 1969 the firm carried his own name, Lorenzo Pipes.

The 1970s and 80s built the cult around that name: thick-walled bowls, flat sitting bottoms, silk-matte red and orange stains, big Oom Pauls sold on the idea of a pipe made for real men with strong hands, and putty fills used without apology. Spitfire ran alongside it as the budget line - 1:1 versions of the Lorenzo catalogue, mostly in 9mm and the smaller classic shapes, built for a buyer who wanted the shape without the name on the shank.

THE MARKS
- SPITFIRE BY LORENZO, shank stamp
- CASTELMONTE, model name, shank stamp

SPITFIRE marks this as the sister brand rather than a mainline Lorenzo; CASTELMONTE names the specific model within that range.

The seller's note calls this a straight billiard, and the proportions bear it out: a cylindrical bowl set on a shank that runs true with the stem line, no bend, no flare. It is the shape every other shape in the rack gets measured against - upright, symmetrical, meant to be gripped rather than posed. The shank here is cut oval rather than round, and the vulcanite stem is shaped to match it, saddle-cut with a fishtail slot at the bit. The fishtail slot widens the airway at the button, and the 9mm filter chamber bored into the shank takes a standard filter without altering the exterior lines.

The finish is smooth - no sandblast, no rustication, the briar left plain under stain and wax rather than textured. Color and grain: see the photographs.

Condition: pre-owned, graded very good by the seller. Rim shows darkening. Bite mark present on the mouthpiece.

THE MEASUREMENTS
Length 148mm (5.9") - Bowl height 50mm (1.9") - Bowl width 42mm (1.7") - Bowl depth 40mm (1.6") - Chamber diameter 20mm (0.8") - Weight 2.0 oz - 9mm filter

Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe.
SKU: 254