A Unique Processing

The processing of Erica arborea briar is a long and difficult process that requires a lot of experience, craftsmanship and above all, passion. A process that takes place in the following phases: CUTTING, BOILING, DRYING AND SEASONING and finally the realization of the finished product

Cut: the cutting of the briar root is performed according to a traditional method which over the years hasn’t undergone no evolution. With the cutting of the briar root, which is done manually through circular blades, are produced briar plateaux and sketches which will serve for the realization of the pipes.

Boiling: all the pieces obtained by cutting, already subdivided for quality, daily are placed soak in some plastic containers until reaching a minimum quantity of about 2000 kg. Subsequently, the briar pieces are stored in the copper tubs full of water (boilers) and starts the boiling process which lasts about 18 hours and that occurs at a constant temperature of 100 degrees. The boilers are brought to the boil and constantly heated through an oven, placed below the copper tubs and manually fed with scraps of the cut.

Drying and curing: the day after completion of boiling, all the briar pieces are removed from the boiler, making sure that  the cooling water has reached a temperature of about 25 degrees so as to avoid wide fluctuations with the outside temperature;  once collected, they are immediately transferred into drying rooms, where the plateaux and the sketches will be kept covered for about 90 days.

During the curing phase the briar pieces  are continuously kept in motion or transferred from a rack to another; this operation allows dropping the mold placed on the walls of the briar pieces, which is created by the escape of moisture that still resides within them and at the same time to make possible drying each piece more homogeneous.
After about 30 months of natural ageing process, all the briar pieces are selected for measurements (in more than 20 different sizes) using criteria and measuring instruments very old but extremely effective.

Realization: Part of sketches is intended for the production of pipes in a large scale in order to realize specific models and from always wanted like billiard, lovat, pot, prince  models and many others; the remaining parts of the sketches and the plateux are  instead  worked rigorously, entirely by hand creating unique masterpieces, inimitable and very prestigious.
The finishing of the pipes, finally, occurs through the use of abrasive papers of different grit sizes, colors and polishing carnauba wax.
It’s important to note that each pipe before being subjected undergoes a very long and thorough process, which requires an average of more than 100 manual steps and brings with it the beauty and the wisdom of an unique craftsmanship!