Briar Coloration

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Harlock999

Harlock999

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Last year, I acquired an Il Ceppo bent apple, in a natural finish. Like many of their pipes, this one had a very nice sandblast, but also a bowl coating. I started to wonder how this pipe would look down the road, and if the bowl coating would inhibit the natural coloring that would occur. I took some pictures of the pipe before I ever smoked it, and told myself to remember to take some more pics after a year of use. Checking my pipe journal (yes), I realized that it was almost exactly one year from the day I bought this pipe, so I took it out for some "after" photos to compare with the earlier pics.






This pipe has smoked superbly from the start, and keeps getting better. It has always delivered a cool, dry smoking experience.
 
Doesn't look like the bowl coating has hindered the coloring process. Looks like it's staying between the lines & coloring nicely. :lol: Nice pipe that will only get nicer with age. Much like my ol'lady, oh shit was that my outside voice :evil: :evil: .
 
That reminds me, Harlock, I've been meaning to do the same thing with a Sav Naturale Started last year on my birthday. Now where did I put that camera...?
 
Thanks for documenting the coloring process Chris. I only have one unstained briar that I have yet to set fire to, but I am now looking forward to doing so, when the timing is right. 8)
 
Very nice. I never really cared for the look of the naked briars but they do look nice once they color up a bit naturally. Great looking pipe!
 
Very cool doing the time lapse images like that. It's amazing how much they'll darken with even minimal use. I've had only one natural pipe in my life. I've had it over 20 years now and it's really, really dark.

Might be cool to do a project like that taking a photo ever week or after each smoke and watch the gradual change over a year's time (or more).

I bet that'd end up going viral within the YouTube pipe community.
 
MisterE":axowcu5u said:
I bet that'd end up going viral within the YouTube pipe community.
Click to expand...


So not exactly Gangnam Style viral-ness! :lol!:

And I was a little surprised at how quickly it colored.
If I had a photo light box I would try your time lapse suggestion. I think a stable and controllable lighting set up would help for that kind of thing. The sun, she's not so predictable.
Even in California... 8)
 
Quit photoshopping your pipe photos, 'Lock. :p

Kidding. I should take pictures of the Tinsky freehand I carved that I left natural, now that it's been a year or so and has colored quite nicely.

8)
 
Harlock999":sjf71k1q said:
MisterE":sjf71k1q said:
I bet that'd end up going viral within the YouTube pipe community.
Click to expand...


So not exactly Gangnam Style viral-ness! :lol!:

And I was a little surprised at how quickly it colored.
If I had a photo light box I would try your time lapse suggestion. I think a stable and controllable lighting set up would help for that kind of thing. The sun, she's not so predictable.
Even in California... 8)
Click to expand...

Chris, I'm not for certain about briar, but I know that some bow woods will darken with age when exposed to light. I have an osage orange bamboo backed longbow, and the osage starts out light orange, but over just a few years, it will change to a dark honey color. I have kept mine in a bow sock out of the light, to lengthen the process.
 
That's a very lovely pipe. I'd be interested in how it's breaking in and smoking?
 
I got an Il Ceppo about 20 years ago, same color. It's dark red now just about.

ceppo.jpg
 
ED_X":2efmknxe said:
That's a very lovely pipe. I'd be interested in how it's breaking in and smoking?
Click to expand...
It broke in effortlessly, almost in no time. It's been a pleasure from the first smoke, dry and cool.
I also have a smooth pipe in this same shape, and it's a good one too, but the natural pipe is the real keeper.

Hey Sas, I love that pipe!
Just a killer shape.
 
What you don't see in that photo is that the walls of the pipe are really thin - the chamber is about an inch across. For a "small" pipe, it holds about a week's worth of tobacco.


Ceppo is a neat company - started by Georgio Imperatori a long time ago, like in the 70s I think, and it's almost like it was a hobby-level or very low production brand for some time. He's considered one of the "big names" in Pesaro neo-classical design though, along with the usual suspects (Sordini, Guidi, Ascorti, Radice). Franco and sister Nadia own the brand now, and it sounds like he does the shaping and she the finishing.

They are cool pipes.
 
Sasquatch":k4mpvd8g said:
What you don't see in that photo is that the walls of the pipe are really thin - the chamber is about an inch across. For a "small" pipe, it holds about a week's worth of tobacco.


Ceppo is a neat company - started by Georgio Imperatori a long time ago, like in the 70s I think, and it's almost like it was a hobby-level or very low production brand for some time. He's considered one of the "big names" in Pesaro neo-classical design though, along with the usual suspects (Sordini, Guidi, Ascorti, Radice). Franco and sister Nadia own the brand now, and it sounds like he does the shaping and she the finishing.

They are cool pipes.
Click to expand...
I agree.
Marty Pulvers thinks they would be more popular if they changed their name and logo.
He thinks Il Ceppo translates to "El Cheapo" to some potential buyers...
 
You know... I've only ever seen a couple of these pipes "live" and bought one, and if you look for brand representation... there just isn't any. Someone is buying these pipes in enough quantity that production was never "aimed" at the USA is my guess. How many vendors can you think of that carry il ceppo? I can name maybe 2, and they usualy have about 3 pipes.

By and large, I'd say they are better than Castellos, but don't have the reputation or quite the history.
 
Sasquatch":s8u52ity said:
You know... I've only ever seen a couple of these pipes "live" and bought one, and if you look for brand representation... there just isn't any. Someone is buying these pipes in enough quantity that production was never "aimed" at the USA is my guess. How many vendors can you think of that carry il ceppo? I can name maybe 2, and they usualy have about 3 pipes.

By and large, I'd say they are better than Castellos, but don't have the reputation or quite the history.
Click to expand...
Yup.
I have three, and all have very neat drilling, and the sort of open airway Castello is more famous for.
At a lower price.
 
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