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'' | '''''See the [[Talk:Dino_da_Campione]] for an Italian version of this article, and we will soon have one in Espanyol...''''' | ||
[[File:Airaghi Leonardo.jpeg|thumb|left]][[File:DINO E CESARE.jpeg|thumb]][[File:Innesto diagonale.jpeg|thumb|left]][[File:Scan 2.jpeg|thumb]][[File:Scan 3.jpeg|thumb]] | |||
Dino da Campione named Leonardo Airaghi born in Milan (1929 - 2010) was a great interpreter in | |||
pipes of handicrafted manufacture, and considered by many: “ The Chanpion of the Italian | |||
handmade pipe”. His production began in 1969. | |||
Having descended from famous artists, among them: Tomaso Airaghi 1827-1899 and Giovan Battista | |||
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 | |||
abandoned. | |||
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”. | |||
The | |||
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 | |||
quality”. | |||
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. | |||
Every “Dino” demanded a very important implementation time, here because the production was | |||
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 | |||
mouthpiece, of which very few specimens are known: pipe and mouthpiece integrate perfectly, | |||
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. | |||
Production data per year are the following: | |||
*1969 12 pipes | |||
*1970 24 pipes | |||
*1971 38 pipes | |||
*1972 38 pipes | |||
*1973 60 pipes | |||
*1974 51 pipes | |||
*1975 87 pipes | |||
*1976 27 pipes | |||
*1977 68 pipes | |||
*1978 121 pipes | |||
*1980 92 pipes | |||
*1981 107 pipes | |||
*1982 155 pipes | |||
*1983 187 pipes | |||
*1984 188 pipes | |||
*1985 166 pipes | |||
*1986 201 pipes | |||
*1987 216 pipes | |||
*1988 165 pipes | |||
*1989 177 pipes | |||
*1990 235 pipes | |||
*1991 213 pipes | |||
*1992 188 pipes | |||
*1993 199 pipes | |||
*1994 255 pipes | |||
*1995 237 pipes | |||
*1996 165 pipes | |||
*1997 188 pipes | |||
*1998 176 pipes | |||
*1999 145 pipes | |||
Dino da Campione passed quietly on 10 December 2010 in the family house in Morcote, Switzerland. | |||
[[Category: Pipe makers by nationality]] | [[Category: Pipe makers by nationality]] | ||
[[Category: Italy]] | [[Category: Italy]] |