by Steve Laug
The next pipe on the worktable is a nice looking Caminetto Dublin that appears to me to be a higher end large, smooth pipe. We purchased from a seller in Macon, Georgia, USA on 03/08/2025. The stamping on the pipe was very clear and readable. On the left side of the shank it reads Caminetto.. [over] Super Moustache. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Hand Made in Italy [over] Cucciago (Co). The finish was in good condition though it was grimy and dusty. The grain shone through the grime and was beautiful. There was a thick cake in the bowl with spotty lava overflow on the rim top. The inner edge had a nick on the left side mid bowl but was otherwise in good condition. The stem had a newer style large, raised moustache logo on the topside of the saddle. There was a white spacer at the end of the stem. The stem was dirty and had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It had a lot of potential. Jeff took photos of the pipe as he saw it at this stage of his examination.
Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The rim top is scooped at the front and back of the bowl with a rise in the middle of each side. The photos show the heavy cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the rim top. The acrylic stem was dirty and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.
Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain on the heel and sides of the bowl.
The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. 
I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see what I could learn about the Caminetto Super Moustache and the large moustache on the stem. The first item in the screen capture below is stamped the same as the one I am working on. I have included the sidebar information below the screen capture.
Brand created in 1968 by Giuseppe Ascorti († 1984), Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as distributor.
- 1979 : End of he first Caminetto period. Luigi Radice left the company. Giuseppe Ascorti produced the Sergio pipes (a short time) and moved into his new workshop with his son Roberto. (See also Capitello)
- 1986 : New Caminetto period by Roberto Ascorti
With that information in hand I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Caminetto) to see if I could glean further information on the specific line – Super Moustache – that I am working on. I quote a section of the article below. I have highlighted the information on the Super Moustache in red below.
There is also another factor in stamping, that is, which series the pipe falls in. The majority of Caminetto’s one sees are those of the “Business” series, which are stamped such with their collective shape (see photo of shapes below). Another stamp that sometimes follows the “Business” one is “KS,” which from what I know means “King-size” (this could be wrong, as there are pipes stamped with KS1, KS2, and KS3).
The other series is what is known as the “Prestige” series, though I have never seen a Caminetto stamped with “Prestige.” It appears that is the name of the collective series of smooth and specialty pipes made by Caminetto and featured in the Tinder Box brochure of old. There are so many different Prestige models, shapes, and finishes, and I have only seen about 5 or 6 of them. The list, per Harvey and other collective resources, is below:
Bagdad (Super Briar and Black Briar Moustache–stained black and smooth)
Damasco (gold ring affixed to top of bowl; smooth)
Double Bowl
Excellence, Excellence Extra, and Excellence Flame (natural, light chestnut or walnut; smooth)
Green Briar and Green Briar Moustache (stained mahogany or walnut; smooth)
Moustache, Moustache KS, KS1, KS2, KS3, and super Moustache (top of the line model; smooth)
New Dear, New Dear KS, KS1, and New Dear Moustache (stained light chestnut with or without black smoke ring on rim; roughly carved)
Red Briar (stained cherry; smooth)
Sable D’Or and Sable D’Or KS, KS1 (black, chestnut, natural, mahogany, red or walnut; sandblast)
Tinder Box Golden Anniversary Drainplug (250 made in black or natural sandblast; 51 made in Sable D’Or sandblast or Excellence smooth finishes)
Torch (stained mahogany or walnut; smooth)
Twin Bowl (only one in existence that I know of, featured in Hacker’s book)
Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had done his usual thorough clean up of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and finished with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and the interior with isopropyl alcohol, shank brushes, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He worked on the acrylic stem with Soft Scrub then let it soak in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water. It has a few tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work. 
I took some close up photos of the bowl/rim top and the stem to show the condition they were in at this point. The rim top and edges looked good and the bowl was clean. The one nick in the inner edge on the left side in the middle is visible below. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.
I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I also captured the moustache logo on the top of the saddle stem. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the pipe.
I started my work on the pipe by addressing the chip/nick on the left inside edge of the bowl. I sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.
I sanded the rim and bowl sides with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wanted to minimize some of the scratches in the briar. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. It really began to shine.
I polished the bowl sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to be beautiful.
I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 2 x 2 inch sanding pads – dry sanding with 320-3500 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth. I was able to blend in the tooth marks.
I examined the moustache on the stem and saw white in the grooves. I used some white acrylic fingernail polish and worked it into the indentations in the stem surface with a tooth pick. Once it cured I scraped off the excess and sanded it with a 1000 grit sanding pad. I was able to remove it and the white left behind looked very good. 
I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I did a final hand polish of the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. The white band on the end of the stem and the white moustache looked good together.
I am excited to put the finishing touches on this Caminetto Super Moustache Dublin with a fancy acrylic saddle stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black, fancy turned vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Caminetto Super Mousetache Dublin is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inch wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.82 ounces/80 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting in the Italian Pipemaker Section on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.
rebornpipes 