Dino da Campione: Difference between revisions

handmade pipe”. His production began in 1969.

Airaghi (1803-1855) and Leonardo Airaghi 1871-1900, Leonardo was provided a wonderful heritage for making pipes with unique artistic heritage at their foundation.

Each pipe was carved according to the grain of the briar; each pipe was born from its own

nature, but always with classic form, elegant and balanced. Pipes were always polished with natural wax, rustication was rare, pipes with briar defects were

Pipes were often made with flat surfaces on the bottom of the bowl and a little foot on the mouthpiece in bone or briarwood in order for it to

stand. They were also designed to maintain continual combustion, avoiding the loss of embers from the chamber, which facilitated outdoor use.

Meticulous attention to the draft hole was realized by developing particular techniques to insure consistent execution.

When customers ordered  they ordered a “Dino da Campione”, not a Bulldog or a Billiard. Just a few small indications were accepted; even when the surprise was great, the client fell in love with the details of their special one of kind “Dino”.

Unlike many craftsmen, who, since the mid-1990s have grown up and developed throughout Italy, Dino da Campione has represented a unicum for "elegance", originality of details and product

Presidents of multinational corporations, nobility, politicians, successful business clients, men of strong

personality and character all sought Dino at his official workplace (Casino di Campione Manager), to

talk to him and commission a special one of a kind pipe, and considered themselves very lucky for the experience (Perhaps they will also try the casino!)

From Switzerland he sent pipes to: Florida, Brazil, Venezuela, New York, Delaware, Singapore, Dubai,

and Korea. His concern: "that the pipe should never break". And so he

tested prototypes to discover areas that could break accidentally in the client's homes. To this end he would toss the pipes against the

laboratory wall, often with a disastrous results. But finally, in the last technical evolution he developed with his son Cesare, the mouthpieces and the pipe could stand the test!

Dino was anti-marketing par excellence, so it was the editorialist of: "Friends of the Pipa"; by making numerous articles always countercurrent and original.

Production was always limited to a hobby by having other activities of family origin. The

commercial distribution in Italy were almost exclusively through Novelli in Rome, which for a long

time remained the only distributor even when there was a very limited number of pieces available.

limited, but it is a guarantee that each piece with the original stamp was made by his

own hands.

In addition to the "Dino da Campione" mark, the nomenclature might include an “oval” with

the initials '''AP''' , standing for "Absolutely Perfect". This was reserved for pipes without the slightest trace of briarwood impurities.

In addition a variable number of up to 4 "Snails", which, like the stars of the hotels, identified

the pipe's personal ranking. The special denomination "QUEEN" was reserved for pieces he

considered extraordinary, and had fallen in love with.

The private laboratory, still untouched in Switzerland, reveals the details of how many original

pipes have been created, and their various characteristics, such as horn ring, silver or gold snail with coral, stand up leg, 5 piece

unbreakable mouthpiece, metal ring on top of the chamber, etc.

His twenty-five year collaboration with his son Cesare Airaghi, who in 1980 undertook the career of

designer, even in root products, has developed the technique of the diagonal anti-breaking

achieving not only beautiful aesthetics, but absolute cohesion, making it almost impossible to

break through an accidental fall!

The unique construction of these pipes made the concept of mass production and

standardization impossible, and were opposite to the concept of high profits and mass production. Dino never wanted to sell mass produced pipes or put them into his private collection.

Dino continued indulging his passion to make pipes until 2005, but after 1999 they were reserved for the family.