Whats the word on the street concerning Ser Jacopo pipes?
They look great, they smoke great, but they always seem to be on sale.
Where do they fit on a scale of 0 (corn cob) to 10 (pick your best pipe)?
Thanks,
Bub

On the Italian scale (to be fair, the ol apples/oranges thing) and Castello being a 10, they rate an 8 to 9 depending on the individual piece. Ditto Mastro de Paja pipes. For some reason, they sell like they rate lower but they're great pipes. I have a couple and love em! Castello rates at the top for me and they do put out a nicer finished pipe, especially their Collection line, but the wood and the drilling of Ser Jac's and MDP's is excellent.

I think some of the most stunning pipes out there are some of the Ser Jacopo sandblasts in their La Pipacia, Picta and Rowlette lines. Second to none in creativity and craftsmanship. I did own a couple of Ser Jacopo's introductory line Gepetto's at one time and thought they smoked very well and were a good value, but were a little clunky.

See what you made me do?

While I was at smokingipes I picked up a pound
of Fillmore and three tins of Two Friends Redwood.

I have several Gemlines, and they are among the best smokers that I own.

Mike

For those unfamiliar Gemlines are Ser Jac's highest grade. John Hayes had a beauty at the NY show this year. Asking price was only around three grand....

BTW, Hermit, if you do choose to age Redwood, you will find that it does so very nicely.

How does one pronounce Ser Jacopo?
I've been using "Sair Jock' o po."
I got used to pronouncing Latakia wrong, "La Ta' Key Ah"
and "La ta key' ah" still doesn't sound right to me.

Unless there's an accent over the vowel in the syllable, textbook Italian puts stress on the next-to-last syllable. So would be Sair Ja-COH-po.

(In the Southern Italian dialects that influenced "American Italian," the stress is often so exaggerated that the last syllable gets cut off--hence all the people I grew up with who pronounced "ricotta" more like "re-GOAT.")

I don't have too many Italian pipes. What I do have smokes well to great. The fit and finish are good to excellent. Even within the same maker I think there is a wide range of quality variations.

My Ser Jacopo's seem to have slightly heavier briar for their size. I do love the interesting shapes. I have a Picta 09. And a Bilbo pipe (raindrop), with only the short stem. They seem to use the harder Lucite bits.

Some of the Castello rusticated are among the best I have seen. Others, not as good. Castello bits seem to be all over the place. Maybe I need to see some high grades. With my tender mouth, sometimes I cannot tolerate smoking them.

I have a single Moretti Canadian, which was a forum pipe some years ago. It is as high a quality piece as I own. The briar is very lightweight. It smokes superbly, and the fit and finish are as good as any of my Ruthenberg's. It's a crime I do not have more Moretti's in my stable.

I have only one Ser Jac, an older (inlaid coral dot) big ol' R2 billiard (DH ODB or C size). Absolutely one of my favorite pipes!! Always a super smoke. Bought it at a Tinder Box in OKC back in the 80's. Paid $100 Yankee dollars for it. Most expensive pipe I'd ever bought!! I've never regreted the purchase. Don't know why I never bought another one. Just didn't need to I guess!! FTRPLT

I have a number of Ser Joc's and can say they smoke wonderfully. Their designs are clearly Italian Artistry at it's best. Along with Castello, Mastro de Paja, they are top notch pipes. Some folks like to acquire the older Coral Dot Logo pipes from the 80's. I happen to have an unsmoked Garnet Gem Line pipe with a nice fill in the bowl. !!!!! Retail on the pipe is around 700 dollars American. So if you are a collector that is concerned about paying a lot of money and not wanting fills you better be warned. It didn't bother me.

My daughter bought me one, when in Italy, and it smokes as well as one of my pipes

C'mon Bruce, it can't possibly be THAT good, can it????

For a time I bought many, both with coral dot and with the silver J. I like their English shapes and respective variations. I also like their silver and gold work very much. Their drilling is perfect and they all smoke very well. In the past, Ser Jacs sold in the US were carefully selected by the importer and guaranteed to be free of fills. Indeed, all my pipes are perfect (they are all smooth). In my trips to Europe I’ve encountered smooth Ser Jacs with fills. They are also much cheaper there.

I haven’t bought a Ser Jac in a few years, but for what I’ve seen their quality has remained top notch. However, I wouldn’t buy one from an overseas vendor.