The Pipes Baldo Baldi Pipes: Grade 3

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"Perfect and inspired beauty. A work of art that is a testimony to the elegance of pure and clean curves."  A Baldi collector.

Click to go directly to the desired pipe on this page.

Quick guide to Baldi's Grading System (Left-Right : Low-High)
000	00	0	1	2	3	B	BB	BBB	1 Crown	2 Crown	3 Crown

• Baldo Baldi, an architect by education, has been making some of the world's most spectacular pipes in tiny workshop close to his house in the center of Genova for over 40 years.
• He uses extremely old and well seasoned briar from Liguria, in Italy, and Province, in southern France.
• The B. Baldi pipes are as hand made as imaginable. Most of the work is done with files and sandpaper. It takes Baldo anywhere from one day to months to make a pipe, depending on the complexity of the design. To get a glimpse of how Baldo makes his pipes, have a look at the Baldo Workshop.
• The Baldi pipes are stamped B. Baldi, preceded (or followed) by the symbol of a pipe, with smoke coming out of it. In addition, each pipe carries one of Baldi's 12 grades.
• Though Baldi pipes are not sold with a brand box, they each come with a very elegant, high quality velvet sleeve, with the maker's name.

 

Pipe Code: BB055 Price: CHF 1,550.00   Shape: Freehand Weight: 67g / 2-3/8 oz Chamber ø: 22mm  --  Chamber Depth: 48mm  --  Wall Thickness:  ->20mm  --  Cleaner Passes? Yes An alternative way to view all the pictures of this pipe is: The SlideShow.

COMMENT: This is a pipe that I believe has Baldo's style written all over it. The shape is quite complicated and intricate, without a trace of exaggeration, and without losing sight of the practicality of the shape when it comes to smoking. It's the typical Baldi pipe that is made as an artistic expression and an ultimate smoking instrument, without favoring one over the other. For starters, the bowl can be said to have two personalities, based on which side you look at it from. From one side, the bowl is rounded and elongated; from the other side, the pipe is flat, with one massive panel that gives the whole idea behind the basic shape. This makes me wonder which of the two sides came first into Baldo's mind when he was designing and later executing the shape. We'll never know! The part of the bowl overlooking the shank is another important part of the story. It's actually the one part that seems to connect, visually, the two faces of the bowl, and when you look carefully, you can see that it's torn between two opposing and yet complementary shapes. The shank is no less unique than the bowl; it, surprisingly, has five different panels, one of which, the thinnest one, is apparently meant to accommodate the flat face of the bowl, elegantly paving the way to and from it. The saddle mouthpiece is of the Fishtail style, bent to perfection to allow for maximum balance. To add to all this "simple complexity", the pipe shows fabulous grain all over, between mixed grain around the bowl and gorgeous Bird's Eye on the bowl top and the uppermost panel of the shank.

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Pipe Code: BB056 Price: CHF 1,550.00   Shape: Freeform Cutty Weight: 60g / 2-1/8 oz Chamber ø: 21.5mm  --  Chamber Depth: 44mm  --  Wall Thickness:  13mm  --  Cleaner Passes? Yes An alternative way to view all the pictures of this pipe is: The SlideShow.

COMMENT: To tell you the truth, I don't recall ever having had the pleasure of using this rare and illusive term "Cutty", and if I did, it must have been when I was still in the crib (yes, at that time, Baldo was around and making pipes, trust me)!! The pipe is another Baldi symphony, a symphony in elegance, style, class, practicality, and art. I have always perceived a well designed and made pipe as a pipe that visually, and effortlessly, allows you to see the bowl, the shank, and the mouthpiece as one integral entity, and at the same time, as three separate entities. This pipe illustrates this viewpoint as well as any other pipe I can think of. The very long mouthpiece measures 98mm (3.86 inches) in length, while the shank a mere 31mm (1.22 inches), and yet they fit perfectly and manage to create a very natural flow. The bowl then pops up and gracefully leans forward away from the rest, creating a pronounced cant forward. Baldo flattened the base of the bowl and most of that of the shank, and so the pipe can rest on its own on a flat surface. The grain is simply magnificently all over the pipe, with some of the best Flame Grain possible on a pipe that is not sold only for the grain. There is a beautiful cluster of tight Bird's Eye on the base of the pipe.

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Pipe Code: BB057 Price: CHF 1,550.00   Shape: Poker Weight: 62g / 2-3/16 oz Chamber ø: 23mm  --  Chamber Depth: 43mm  --  Wall Thickness:  13mm  --  Cleaner Passes? Yes An alternative way to view all the pictures of this pipe is: The SlideShow.

COMMENT: Here's a classic Poker, and believe me, it's very hard to find a Baldi shape that is not preceded with the word "freeform"; he tends to have his own interpretation of classic shapes, and apparently, in this case, he didn't do enough to lead us off the track of a classic Poker. Something that you may not easily detect from the picture is the bowl top, which is concave. The bowl is slightly canted forward, an effect Baldo created by slanting the bowl base. The bowl is quite tall, measuring 55mm (2.17 inches). The pipe is drilled to perfect, with the draught hole exit landing right on the tobacco chamber base, and perfectly centrally in regards to the shank and chamber. The mouthpiece is a Fishtail, which is one of Baldo's favorite mouthpiece style. I don't recall ever seeing a Poker with a Fishtail mouthpiece (maybe I should have added "freeform" to the shape definition after all)! The pipe has decent grain all around the bowl, but the best part is the bowl top, with some magnificent Bird's Eye. The tobacco chamber is slightly conical in shape, starting at 23mm (0.91 of an inch) at the top and going down to perhaps 10-12mm (0.39-0.47) at the chamber base.

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Pipe Code: BB058 Price: CHF 1,550.00   Shape: Freehand Weight: 77g / 2-23/32 oz Chamber ø: 22mm  --  Chamber Depth: 43mm  --  Wall Thickness:  ->24mm  --  Cleaner Passes? Yes An alternative way to view all the pictures of this pipe is: The SlideShow.

COMMENT: I have given the shape a lot of thought, and yet, I couldn't come up with anything more indicative and representative than "freehand". So, I'm most certain that "freehand" is the right description. The bowl starts at the shank at a width of 33mm (1.30 inches) and keeps getting wider till it reaches about 42mm (1.65 inches) at the other side. The only way to realize this in full is by looking at the pipe from the top. When you do that, you also notice that the shank is tapered, starting at the shank-bowl joint at 18mm and arriving at 14mm right before it joins the mouthpiece. Then, you have the incredibly LONG, tapered mouthpiece which is a staggering 99mm (3.90 inches) long! If you think the pipe is on the heavy side, let me tell you why. The bowl has an incredible amount of wood, and as I mentioned above, the bowl walls reach a thickness of 24mm (a little less than a whole inch)! The tobacco chamber is clearly conical in shape, starting at 22mm at the top and going down to basically a few millimeters; this means that the draught hole exit is central vertically. This, from experience, usually guarantees excellent combustion. If you have difficulty smoking your pipe to the last shred of tobacco, you would most easily achieve this goal with pipe, without making an effort. The grain is what so many people out there wouldn't hesitate to describe as fabulous Straight Grain. Luckily, Italian makers have much more demanding standards when it comes to grain and in particular, Straight Grain. So, let's just say that the pipe has gorgeous Flame Grain, and MASSIVE Bird's Eye.

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Pipe Code: BB059 Price: CHF 1,550.00   Shape: XXXL Billiard Weight: 105g / 3-11/16 oz Chamber ø: 23.5mm  --  Chamber Depth: 52mm  --  Wall Thickness:  ->17mm  --  Cleaner Passes? Yes An alternative way to view all the pictures of this pipe is: The SlideShow.

COMMENT: Im treading carefully here by describing this Billiard simply as "XXXL"; if I wasn't, I would be telling you it is a MAGNUM. I'm sure that many people wouldn't hesitate to describe as a Magnum, and I wouldn't even argue with them. The black sandblasted pipe you see in the last two picture is actually a very large Dunhill; it's marked by Dunhill as an "EX". To bring you closer to the true size of the pipe, let me give you some measurements: The bowl height is 60mm (2.36"). The bowl diameter is 52mm (2.1"). The shank width is 22-25mm (0.87-0.98"). The shank height is 16-21mm (0.63-0.83"). The mouthpiece bit width is 19.5mm (0.77"). The overall length of the pipe is 170mm (6.7"). The pipe, Baldo tells, was made a few years ago out of a very well aged piece of briar. The age and the quality of the wood used can be seen through the beautiful patina of the pipe and also the delicate, consistent grain. The pipe is drilled to perfection, with the draught hole being right at the base of the tobacco chamber and right in the center. The grain is absolutely magnificent, which makes this pipe a mind-boggling piece. It's okay to make such a huge pipe, but to make one with such absolutely fabulous grain is a pipe maker's dream come true. I wouldn't hesitate to describe this as a:  Straight Grain, Magnum Billiard

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