This one isn’t a maker with a lineage, it’s a name that traveled. Pimpernel is a Rossi export line, built in Italy and stamped for whatever market it needed to land in. That’s why you’ll see the identity shift a little from pipe to pipe. Sometimes it leans English in the presentation, sometimes it shows its Italian roots, but underneath it’s the same thing every time, Rossi factory work doing exactly what it was meant to do.
The shaping stays in the classic lane and the engineering is usually right where you want it. It’s not chasing grain contests or artistic statements. It’s trying to be a dependable smoker that could sit on a shelf next to more established names without scaring anyone off on price. You’ll find the occasional fill and the finishing won’t make you stop and stare, but most of them draw clean and behave themselves once they’re lit.
There’s no myth to chase here and no hidden master behind the curtain. It was built to move product, not build prestige. The upside is you get honest Italian briar that tends to smoke better than it looks. The downside is it never grows into anything more than that. It’s a working pipe, plain and simple, the kind that earns its place by how it smokes rather than what it says on the shank.
Professionally restored. Stem is 9/10. Come and Take It!
Follow my shop for choice pipes and color commentary, uploaded regularly and original pipes hand made by me, uploaded occasionally. I REGULARLY STOCK 100+ ESTATE PIPES SO CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS
Keywords – briar smoking tobacco pipe rare vintage antique estate pipe potato
I combine shipping on orders over $40 in the continental US, just ask!
Measurements available upon request.
My shipping is a little more than some. I use UPS (unless it's going to a PO Box or non contiguous US) because UPS has a 98% success rate versus USPS at 87.5%. I have a dedicated UPS representative who goes above and beyond in the rare case there is a shipping issue. Three-ish dollars is worth the peace of mind in my opinion.
