A Castello Question???

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pipetongue1

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Afternoon All, For those of you in the know, I have a Castello Sea Rock G Omm-Paul , with a Military bit with the white bar designation, it also has a very small red diamond,ruby on the bit, does any know what this signifies??
Thanx, Ken. :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue: From The Northeast Kingdom! :tongue:
 
That ruby is my trademark, I put it on all my pipes. That way I can recognize them if they are stolen. So if you wouldn't mind returning it to me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

:lol:
 
White bar and ruby insert both on the stick bit? :?:

I dunno :suspect: I thought the only ruby inserts were on the Ser Jacs :| That's a new one on me. Will be interesting to hear an answer.
 
pipetongue1":uk213r70 said:
Afternoon All, For those of you in the know, I have a Castello Sea Rock G Omm-Paul , with a Military bit with the white bar designation, it also has a very small red diamond,ruby on the bit, does any know what this signifies??
Thanx, Ken. :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue: From The Northeast Kingdom! :tongue:
It's a sign that the Red Sox will have good fortune in October. :lol:
 
I obtained a Rad Davis billiard from Jason in a trade,there was a pit on the stem
about half an inch from the shank,he told me it was a tooth mark from his dog that would buff
out.Now I see.....it was where he gouged out the ruby before he sent it to me. :x

:evil: Winslow :evil:
 
See! :lol:

I'm sure Ken is going to appreciate all the great answers he's getting.
 
Ken,

Apparently you have a "Sea Rock" or "Old Sea Rock" that is an early pipe made for the American market that included the red diamond so as not to be confused with a Wally Frank line made in the 50's that has a white bar similar to the Castello's sold on the European market.

This is according to Robert C. Hamlin who wrote the Castello Grade and Style Guide for the PCCA.

American logo'd Castello pipes use a small round "Diamond"
(referred to and looking like, but it is NOT actually a diamond)
inlaid into the mouthpiece. This was originally done so that the
standard Castello white bar logo did not conflict with another
brand and logo that was sold by Wally Frank called the "White Bar
Pipe" (in the 1950's).


Many Castello collectors prefer the white bar logo and a few
prefer the "diamond", however there is no real difference between
the two once you compare like pieces. In a few cases there are
differences in finishes or grading; we will point these out when
they apply.

SEA ROCK [Carved Black or dark brown]: This is the lowest grade
of the Castello line and is the most common in the USA. Sea
Rocks are produced by taking a smooth bowl that has not been
"final finished" and surface carving the finish with tools. This
"carved" finish is then evened out using a steel wire brush,
stained and then waxed. The Natural Vergin carved finish is left
unstained and unwaxed as a rule, although we have seen waxed and
partially waxed"Vergins".

http://www.pipes.org/FORMATTED/196.html

According to Ed Anderson this red diamond could be on some pipes produced up through the 70's as well. Either way it must be a some what early Castello.

http://forum.pipes.org/~discus/discus/messages/26/33399.html?1154303560
 
Those Castello diamonds are silver, not red. It's the Ser Jacopo that has the coral dot stem and the Emerald inset into the stem on one of the Dalla Gemma series lines. Could be that Castello put a red one in for some reason at some time but the standard diamond insert to designate them American market pipes is a silver one.
 
Puff Daddy":1kayx1wx said:
Those Castello diamonds are silver, not red. It's the Ser Jacopo that has the coral dot stem and the Emerald inset into the stem on one of the Dalla Gemma series lines. Could be that Castello put a red one in for some reason at some time but the standard diamond insert to designate them American market pipes is a silver one.
That is interesting. If that is the case, then Ken must have a very rare collectible pipe because that would mean the red diamond is a mistake and such things in any collectible arena make them more valuable. I couldn't find anything that actually referenced the color other than Ed Anderson's comments.
 
Take a look here - http://briarblues.com/italy.htm - Scroll down to the first four Sea Rocks, they all have the old diamond stems.

I'm thinking Kens is either a limited/special edition pipe of some kind or it has a modified or replaced stem.

Can you post a pic Ken?
 
Puff Daddy":0vvu5j10 said:
Take a look here - http://briarblues.com/italy.htm - Scroll down to the first four Sea Rocks, they all have the old diamond stems.

I'm thinking Kens is either a limited/special edition pipe of some kind or it has a modified or replaced stem.

Can you post a pic Ken?
I didn't think about a replacement stem PD.
 
Morn' All, I don't have the camera to post pics, maybe i'll write to Luca, thanx for your effort, Ken. :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue: From The Northeast Kingdom! :tongue:
 
The fact that this pipe has both the white bar and the diamond trademarks is very strange. I have a red diamond Castello I have asked many knowledgeable Castello collectors about this, a couple have said some were made at a dealers request others have said that the trademark was over drilled and tobbacco juice infiltrated and discolored the trademark. I don't know. If I had to guess sight unseen, I might think the white bar was added. When the diamond trademarked pipes were being imported it was said that people wanted pipes with the (forbiddin fruit I suspect) the European style white bar. This is just a guess as I have never seen, or heard of a double trademark Castello before.
 
pipetongue1":7bnv9w39 said:
Afternoon All, For those of you in the know, I have a Castello Sea Rock G Omm-Paul , with a Military bit with the white bar designation, it also has a very small red diamond,ruby on the bit, does any know what this signifies??
Thanx, Ken. :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue: From The Northeast Kingdom! :tongue:
Hi Ken,

I've seen a couple examples of Castellos with double logos - both the white bar and the silver foil "rhinestone." I have not been able to get a clear answer on what the heck it means. I do know that having seen thousands of Castellos, and only a couple of these, it's rare.

The "rhinestone" is actually a piece of foil pressed into a hole, and covered over with clear acrylic. I've seen examples of them being set deeply enough that the hole breaks through to the draught hole, and after some years of smoking, the "stone" discolours. It's not hard to imagine a red hue resulting, but it would be more of a mahogany or red-brown colour than a ruby-red. More likely, I'd think the clear acrylic, when the mouthpiece was made, was tinted red.

None of this answers the question, "What does it signify?" But, this is all I can offer. Luca might know, or he can always ask Sr. Coppo next time he visits the factory. At any rate, sounds like a keeper.

Cheers,
Greg
 
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