Tommaso Spanu "Briar F" Freehand Straight Grain Natural Finish Large Briar Pipe

Individually Numbered (6509). Each pipe comes with a numbered and signed Certificate of Authenticity.

A unique pipe, made from the finest grained briar. Each Tommaso Spanu pipe is handcrafted and no two are ever the same.

Extremely Limited Stock - The Pipe Pictured Is The One You Will Receive

DAbout Tommaso Spanu – A Sardinian Pipe Maker

Artisan Italian Pipes, all made completely by Hand in Sardinia since 1979
Only the best Sardinian “Erica Scoparia” Briar is used'.

The Briar is grown, harvested, milled, and conditioned entirely by Tom Spanu, the only Pipemaker in the world to do this. Only around 1,000 Pipes are produced annually.
Each Pipe is a unique creation – no two are the same.

In 1963 Tommaso Spanu left his home in Sardinia and wandered to Northern Italy to become a Pipemaker. His uncle had managed an apprenticeship for him in Gavirate, in the province of Varese, with its many pipe manufactures. His exceptional talent soon attracted the attention of Alberto Paronelli the grand seigneur of Italian pipe business. Paronelli, a famed pipe designer himself, arranged that the best pipe craftsmen schooled his young fosterling and personally taught him in pipe design and styles. Soon Spanu reached a remarkable level of skills and began to work on the Clairmont pipes, a high-grade brand produced for and distributed by Paronelli. A little later the bulk of the Clairmonts were made by Spanu who was even allowed to stamp them with his own name.

All in all, Tom Spanu spent 16 years in the North where he worked with many other famous Pipemakers like Guiseppe Ascorti and Luige Radice. In 1979 he finally felt it was time now to continue on his own. So, he returned to Sardinia where he established his own workshop with some help from his brothers. A firm was founded to market the pipes, the Novarte S.N.C. di Spanu Tommaso. Furthermore, he purchased a licence from the local government and now Spanu is the only Pipemaker worldwide who grows, harvests, mills, and conditions his own briar!

Today his brother and two sons carry on the family tradition, making more than a thousand pipes a year. Mostly more classic models for Italy, but also a good amount of more stylish designs for the foreign markets. Now, when it comes to talking about "entirely handmade pipes", when Tommaso started carving pipes, only hand tools were used. Carrying on this tradition today, not a lathe or drill is to be found in his workshop!

Smooth Briar ‘F’ Standard Grade with Radica blaze

Briar used for smoking pipes comes from the Mediterranean area- countries which includes Spain, France, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece. Among collectors, certain countries and islands have the reputation for delivering roots of high quality (such as Italy, Sardinia, Greece, Algeria) while other countries (Spain and France for example) are understood to produce pieces of lesser quality.

It is generally recognized that in order to have a superior smoking pipe the briar from which it is made must be at least fifty years old. It is only with age that the briar root becomes tight enough, dense enough to withstand both the heat of lighted tobacco and the juices produced during smoking for very long periods of time. Whereas the pores of less-aged briar tend to clog from absorption in a relatively short time the well-aged briar absorbs much less in a given smoke and so should last for decades if well-treated by the smoker.

This is the quality and standard of Briar Pipe supplied by Tommaso Spanu, made exclusively from Sardinian Briar.

Dimensions (approx)
Length 155mm (6.1 inches)
Weight 60g (2.1 ounces)
Bowl Height 58mm (2.3 inches)
Bowl Width 41mm (1.6 inches)
Chamber Depth 40mm (1.6 inches)
Chamber Width19 mm (0.7 inches)

Suppied in a simple pipe bag - Unboxed

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01234 266711
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