Savinelli: Nay or Yay?

[kaitlyn3837]

Are any of you partial to Savinellis? Hate 'em? Just don't care?

Just curious because I am partial to Peterson pipes. I have had a few Savinellis come and go. Never actually smoked one though, I always refurbished them and then sent them on their way.

Also, I have a STUNNER of a Savinelli Autograph 4 that is half sandblast and half straight grain. If anyone prefers adding Savs to their collection, I wanted to give them first dibs. It's a little too big for me otherwise I don't think I could part with it!

 

[Lonecoyote]

I much prefer the older Savinelli pipes as well as the Peterson brand. A pipe smoker friend purchased a Pete with a lacquer finish and after just 3 smokes it bubbled real bad. I completely sanded the briar and did a nice rustication design and used Bee's wax and mineral oil mixture, so the briar darkens/colors naturally. Looks much better now. Oh, I had to open the draft hole on this pipe also. Another issue with new Pete's is the draft hole is so far off one asks...." where is quality control "? That's like a Savinelli I received last year with absolutely NO hole drilled in the stem! You know that pipe was thoroughly checked by Savinelli's quality control.....lol



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Ozark Wizard]

The only Sav I have is the one I got from you. It smokes well enough, though it seems I over load the bowls and it gets wet toward the end. I have only smoked it a few times though... So, yah, I like it!

 

[kaitlyn3837]

The only Sav I have is the one I got from you. It smokes well enough, though it seems I over load the bowls and it gets wet toward the end. I have only smoked it a few times though... So, yah, I like it!

LOL. No matter what tobacco I smoke or which pipe I smoke it in, I always get a wet pile in the bottom when I am done. Only a couple of them end up gurgling in the stem as I smoke though, thank goodness!

 

[kaitlyn3837]

I much prefer the older Savinelli pipes as well as the Peterson brand. A pipe smoker friend purchased a Pete with a lacquer finish and after just 3 smokes it bubbled real bad. I completely sanded the briar and did a nice rustication design and used Bee's wax and mineral oil mixture, so the briar darkens/colors naturally. Looks much better now. Oh, I had to open the draft hole on this pipe also. Another issue with new Pete's is the draft hole is so far off one asks...." where is quality control "? That's like a Savinelli I received last year with absolutely NO hole drilled in the stem! You know that pipe was thoroughly checked by Savinelli's quality control.....lol



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

No hole in the stem?! What the heck?!

 

[Fight'n Hampsters]

I love 'em. All of my regular rotation pipes are Savs. I have found them easy to break in and love the shapes.

 

[Lonecoyote]

Yup, I'll say Savinelli pipes are easy to break in with no issues. The unfinished Savinelli series III Billiard pipe with 11 huge fills is "FUGLY" but a superb smoker.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Fight'n Hampsters]

Yup, I'll say Savinelli pipes are easy to break in with no issues. The unfinished Savinelli series III Billiard pipe with 11 huge fills is "FUGLY" but a superb smoker.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

Funny you should say that!  The last two I bought were unfinished and I love the way they looked.  I will dig up my old post showing how they colored up over time.

Here it is:

http://brothersofbriar.forumotion.com/t32531-unfinished-savinelli-before-and-after?highlight=unfinished

i have a link in that post to the old pics. You can see how it darkened with age.

 

[Lonecoyote]

Fight N Hampsters

Here is a before and after pictures of my Savinelli Series III Unfinished Billiard. I only used Bee's wax and mineral oil, lightly sanded prior. Did not notice or see any of the 11 huge fills on the pipe until after the Bee's wax was applied. Of course P&C would not exchange, even though it could not be sold. This is the pipe that I received with NO hole drilled on the stem. In the second picture you can see 6 fills, look close on the bowl and you'll see the 6th, 5 others on the other side. But, after over 450 smokes the color is a nice natural dark chocolate and those fills stand out like a sore thumb...lol. It is an outstanding smoking pipe and it was broken in after just 5 uses.

KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[ftrplt]

My half dozen or so Savs are from the 60's. Darn good smokers, good wood, no filters. The new stuff, no idea!!! :cheers: FTRPLT

 

[Brewdude]

I must have a dozen or more Pete's. They represent the largest brand I have. Think I have 7 or 8 Sav's, all older ones. They all smoke just fine. So ya, I'm a fan.


Cheers,

RR

 

[fsu92john]

Love my Savinellis. I have seven or eight altogether and three or four that are among my best smokers. Generally there's a lot of bang for the buck.

 

[Thistleoak]

Old Savs definitely.... the newer ones feel super mass produced.  Still a fine pipe but not as much romance if that makes any sense

 

[RDPipes]

For me I hate'em. The draw is so open I can't taste my tobacco.
Sold 4 of what I had and they were Punto Oro's but, stuck with one that for some reason performs quite well.
A Trevi Author 320.

 

[Brewdude]

For me I hate'em. The draw is so open I can't taste my tobacco.
Sold 4 of what I had and they were Punto Oro's but, stuck with one that for some reason performs quite well.
A Trevi Author 320.

Ron, one of my very favorite Savs is an estate Punto Oro 320 I got from bro Mattia. In fact I'm smoking it right now with some aged 2015 w/15% added p-weed. Magnificent, and the draw is perfect. No filter.

8)


Cheers,

RR

 

[kaitlyn3837]

Darn, I had a nice Punto Oro I sold on Ebay a week or two ago. Well, I guess I will post the the av Autograph and see if anyone is interested. Thank you everyone for input!

 

[AdamCordray]

The first briar I purchased (bought only 1 year ago) is a Savinelli Hercules 611EX rusticated bent Dublin, and I put that poor pipe through all of the mistakes a beginner makes. But it still smokes very nicely. I've dedicated it to english blends because the chamber is huge, and the latakia covered up any aromatic ghosting that may have occurred during my brief period of experimenting early on. Though at this point, I have a feeling that enough latakia has burned in there to exorcise any vanilla/maple ghosts that may have lingered.
Later on, I purchased an estate Savinelli Punto Oro 111KS dark sandblasted straight billiard for quite a steal on eBay, and it's a great smoker too. Used mainly for the balkan or oriental forward blends with less latakia, it's taking on that "greatly appreciated" patina around the rim.

- Adam

 

[Richard Burley]

Fight N Hampsters

Here is a before and after pictures of my Savinelli Series III Unfinished Billiard. I only used Bee's wax and mineral oil, lightly sanded prior. Did not notice or see any of the 11 huge fills on the pipe until after the Bee's wax was applied. Of course P&C would not exchange, even though it could not be sold. This is the pipe that I received with NO hole drilled on the stem. In the second picture you can see 6 fills, look close on the bowl and you'll see the 6th, 5 others on the other side. But, after over 450 smokes the color is a nice natural dark chocolate and those fills stand out like a sore thumb...lol. It is an outstanding smoking pipe and it was broken in after just 5 uses.

KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

That's not the same pipe, is it? :scratch:

 

[Lonecoyote]

The top picture is the pipe I ordered ( pictured on their website ) from P&C and the bottom picture is the pipe I received. Not only should the pipe not have been sold to me by P&C because of the 11 huge fills, it was not even the pipe in the picture I ordered. Was told by Sal from P&C customer service that it's a billiard bowl that was shipped to me but slightly different than in the picture. I have not placed an order with P&C since and had my account closed. The month prior had an issue with tobacco I ordered. So, if P&C had a 50% off sale I would pass!!



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Puff Daddy]

I've tried a few times with Savinelli and it just didn't work for me. First I got a couple of Capri Root briar estates. The stems were so awful they just made the pipes taste off. There was no hope. I picked up an autograph at one point and found the same problem. It was a nice pipe in very good shape but the vulcanite stem was crap. As Marty Pulvers once wrote (and he was dead-on correct), Savinelli, hundred dollar pipes with ten cent stems. I later tried a couple of 6mm acrylic stemmed pipes and though they were better, they still weren't good enough to make me want them. Honestly, great affordable pipes are rare and mediocre but cool looking affordable pipes abound.