Savinelli

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Savinelli History

In 1876 Achille Savinelli Sr. opened one of the first pipe shops in the world exclusively selling smoking accessories and pipes in the city centre of Milan. His two brothers followed him soon afterwards with a similar shop in Genoa. Both shops were successful and were quickly known because of their good quality and perfect service. In 1920 Carlo Savinelli, son of Achille Savinelli I, ran the shop after him. He began to collaborate with some craftsmen in the Varese province, north of Milan, putting to market the first pipes branded as Savinelli.

The real Savinelli production began with Carlo’s son, Achille Savinelli Jr. He decided to leave his father’s shop and started to produce his own pipes. After the Second World-War, in 1948, Achille Jr. founded a new factory, employing about fifteen workers by 1950. The factory was based in Molina di Barasso,in the Varese province. The products were put on market under the name of Savinelli, that was adopted as its mark.

Savinelli pipes rapidly began gaining prestige in markets all over the world and production greatly grew in the fifties and sixties. At present, about fifty employees work in the factory, producing almost a thousand pipes per day. With this production Savinelli is one the biggest pipe factories in the world. Nowadays the factory is owned by Giancarlo Savinelli, son of Achille Jr.

Characteristics

Savinelli Punto Oro

The original Savinelli pipe shows a remarkable similarity with pipes from Alfred Dunhill Ltd. and other traditional firms. The shape line is classical and mainly based on the English briar pipes. Over time a standard assortment of 48 shapes have been developed, in a great variety of different finishes.

The products are divided into separate series in order to make the large factory assortment transparent. The punto d'oro series show the largest similarity with the pipes from Alfred Dunhill. The golden dot is placed on the same spot as the white dot of Dunhill, of course this is done to resemble its counterparts.

Savinelli Shape Chart

Next to series also unica, freehands and more special pipes are in production. Examples are the series artisan and autograph. For the most exquisite smokers more luxurious pipes can be obtained having spectacular grains and unexpected shapes.

The second brand of Savinelli is Oskar, while also under the brands name are Herkules and Sigla, to name just a few.. Also popular are the sandblasted Capri-shapes and the feather light Corallo-pipes being porous as meerschaum and changing colour in course of time.

Savinelli Balsa System

A characteristic of the Savinelli pipe is the unique filter system. In the shaft a bore of 6 millimeters is drilled, in which a triangular piece of balsa wood is placed. This light weight piece of wood, extremely porous, absorbs all the tar and nicotine from the smoke thus cleaning the smoke. A lot of standard Savinelli pipes have this system, but those smokers desiring not to use the balsa filter, can easily block the system with a plug supplied with every pipe, or can simply remove the filter altogether.

Savinelli made sub-brands, seconds & order productions

  • Alligator
  • Arnold's - 40-50's sub-brand
  • Aurelia Ex.
  • Baronet
  • Bent Bob Pipes - Distributed in US
  • Big Nine
  • Bing's Favorite
  • Black Set
  • Bruna'
  • Cadet - About 1960's
  • Caffè
  • Capitol
  • Capri
  • Capt. Warren - Distributed in US
  • Caramella
  • Champagne
  • Chiara
  • Chocolat
  • Churchwarder
  • Clark's
  • Dr. Forson - Vest pocket pipe like Roley. Unconfirmed!
  • Duca Carlo
  • Duca di Milano
  • Duca di Paolo
  • Elegance
  • Estella - Rejected "Autograph" pipes
  • Fiammata - Rejected "Giubileo D'Oro" - Straight Grain
  • Fuoco
  • Gaius
  • Ginger's Favorite
  • Giotto
  • Giubileo Oro
  • Grezza
  • Grand Prix - About 1960's - Brown Leather covered
  • Hercules - XXL pipes
  • Horoscope
  • Joker
  • King's Cross (Imported Briar) - Distributed in US
  • La Roma
  • La Una - Unconfirmed!
  • Linea Artisan
  • Linea Più
  • Lino
  • Logo
  • Lolita
  • Lollo - Stubby pocket pipe
  • Long John
  • Melange
  • Melitta
  • Miele
  • Molinella
  • Monsieur
  • Natural
  • New Art - Artistic designs that take additional 20 steps of production
  • Night&Day
  • Noce
  • Onda
  • One
  • Ontario
  • Opera
  • Oscar
  • Panama
  • Pannocchia
  • Parade
  • Petite
  • Piazza di Spagna
  • Pocket
  • Porto Cervo
  • Prince of Wales
  • Punto Oro
  • Qandale
  • Rimini
  • Riviera
  • Roley - Vest pocket pipe; almost identic to "Rolex" by Brebbia
  • Roma
  • Royal Oak - Distributed in US
  • Samanda
  • Savinelli Professor
  • Savinelli Ecume
  • Seta
  • Siena
  • Sigla
  • Silver
  • Sistina
  • Soireè
  • Solaria
  • Spigot
  • Sport - About 1960's - Chubby shape with very short stem or mouthpiece
  • Spring
  • Sun-set
  • Tevere
  • Tortuga
  • Toscana
  • Trevi
  • Tundra
  • Vaniglia
  • Virginia
  • Venere

Corrections welcome!

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