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Hand cut stems after talks with friends

Marco Biagini says he has introduced some enhancements to his increasingly popular Moretti pipes. Already known as one of Italy's best value-for-money carvers, he has been listening to collectors nudging him towards high-grade standards and techniques. Marco says communicating via the Internet has helped him realise the scope for improvement.

"Until about a year ago, my ambition was simply to make pipes that smoked well," he explains. "I have a huge stockpile of excellent briar, so I can always use very old wood. But now, with my website, I've had the opportunity to talk to many friends and to improve some details." Marco says he has started using 1200 sandpaper for finishing, and that changes also include new stem options.

It should be noted that Marco's lucite stems were never on the clunky side. In fact, they are excellent proof of the rule that skilful work can significantly offset the harshness of the material. All the same, purists will be relieved to learn that Moretti mouthpieces now come from the full range of eligible plastics - from hand-cut Cumberland or ebonite to the typically Italian acrylic bits.

Despite the fact that Marco's pipes are towards the bottom of the price range among Italian artisans, collectors have long singled him out as a carver capable of leading the pack. Accordingly, he has received encouragement and advice from many quarters, including one admirer who suggested he used more birdseye grain. Though there's no great demand for this domestically, the move is proving popular among foreign buyers. (International regard for birdseye was something Marco had not realised prior to his Internet days.)

Notwithstanding these recent quality adjustments, Marco looks unlikely to forsake the mid-grade market, to which he contributes a staggering 1000 pipes a year - all totally hand-made, as he stresses. "My prices are lower than other brands," he says, "but not the quality." Biagini claims he derives enjoyment from the fact that his work is relatively inexpensive. "I want all pipe smokers to be able to buy an excellent pipe, including those who can't afford high-grades."

High-grade Morettis?

Marco comes across as a happy man. "The most beautiful thing is to take a piece of briar and transform it into a pipe," he says, adding that he would not hesitate to recommend a career in carving to any young person today. His buoyant attitude is probably justified, from a subjective point of view. Midgrading at the pace of 1000 well-made pipes annually requires special skills, as both Mark Tinsky and Cornelius Mänz have recently pointed out in Pfeifenbox. It also yields relatively viable profits. Materially, Italy's mid-price artisans often fare considerably better than Scandinavia's perfectionist elite, especially appealing to customers with discerning tastes, yet conservative spending habits. Catering for this comparatively large segment of the smoking public makes financial sense, whereas trying to upgrade an established brand image is a risky business. Though considered something of a secret just over a year ago, Moretti pipes are now fairly widely known for affordability - which is both a noble reputation and one which would be hard to reform.

Trying to maintain a twin brand identity has also been suggested as an option for Biagini. Some collectors think that he could bring it off, offering both mid- and high-grade ranges as Moretti pipes, whereas others warn that customer confusion would be a likely consequence (budget buyers will fancy a high-grade smell to the mid-grades, whereas affluent collectors may fear a bourgeois whiff of affordability attached to even the most luxurious pipes). Carvers who play in two leagues usually strive to keep perceptions well apart by opting for two separate brands - like Trever Talbert and Former, who both market high-grades under their own names and mid-grades under the labels of Ligne Bretagne and Bentley, respectively.

All in all, Marco might be best off continuing doing what he is doing - making mid-grades increasingly near the top of their class. Just think of the business an unpretentious steakhouse might do if the chef were a known three-star wizard. Of course, understatement is a magical thing - provided that it is recognised as such. Since certain dealers and collectors are already attending to this issue, it's a fairly safe bet that Morettis will find their niche roughly where Claudio Cavicchi is today: not really top echelon, but not too far off.

Marco's website: http://www.pipemoretti.com

(November 14, 2003)

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