B Shapes

I have been meaning for some time to remind everyone of Peterson’s amazing “Italian” pipes—not made in Italy, but made in collaboration with Mario Lubinski of Lubinski.it since the late 1970s. I first became aware of these pipes through the internet and only gradually came to understand Mario’s passion for Kapp & Peterson and the dozens of original lines and novel finishes, all mid-to-high grade, he’s created over almost fifty years now with old Peterson legends like Tony Dempsey, Jimmy Nicholson and Paddy Larrigan and more recent craftsmen and women like Tony Whelan, Sr., Tony Whelan, Jr., David Blake, Teresa Lynham and Joe Kenny. If you search the blog for “Lubinski” you can see many of the great Italian lines and issues identified in detail, or you can just cruise the Lubinski catalog, bearing in mind some of the lines are not longer in production. The last Lubinski I have any knowledge of was the incredible Rogha natural virgin limited edition he released through Sansonne Smoke Shop in May 2018, but a look at his current catalog listings shows there’s some new lines since then. I wondered whether Mario’s collaborative creations with Peterson ceased about the time of the Roghas and not long ago asked Glen Whelan, director of sales at Peterson, about it. He replied: “I can absolutely confirm that Mario is still very much active and we are actually trying to plan together a time for him to come over to visit us here and chat about some Italian exclusive lines. So we will see plenty more Italian market Petes!” This being the case, I thought I’d have a look around to see what was still available from Italian sites and give pipe smokers, especially in the US, heads-up on how to go about ordering if they’ve never done so. New old stock is not uncommon on Italian sites Unlike US and some other markets, the Italian on-line shops seem to carry what I can only describe as a “hand-picked” selection, mostly eschewing gateway (entry-level) pipes for some very individual and often amazing selections. Also unlike US markets, the Italians seem content to make these purchases knowing that they may not sell a piece for years. Case in point, Santa brought me a 1979 4s Supreme two Christmases ago, new/old stock, courtesy Tabaccheria Rizzi, waiting 40 years for me to come along. The new/old stock XL20 (Rathbone) Dublin Silver Cap Sandblast seen in the top banner is the kind of thing that I’m talking about. It’s hallmarked Q for 2001, just ten years into the Dublin era (1991-2018), with an amazing blast and stain. There were several other SH shapes in the series, but this one, due to the bend of the vulcanite mouthpiece, has the grace and charm of the old Dunhill swan necks to me. It was 220 euros, or $237.00 US, which is amazing considering the vintage, blast and sterling work. Now if you’ve never bought from the Italians before, there’s a few things you…