Enricoro (Enrico Marola)

Enricoro is the pipe brand of Enrico Marola, who works in the town of Vercelli in Italy's northern Piedmont region. The name is born of the fusion of the master's own name with "orologiaio," the Italian word for watchmaker: Marola's principal trade is watchmaking, and pipemaking has remained a second pursuit running alongside it for years. The brand's emblem reflects this dual identity too; a brass watch-movement bushing is used as the logo.

The Founding of the Bench

According to the record, Marola's acquaintance with briar began in 1998, following an encounter with Bruto Sordini, founder of the Don Carlos bench. In the early years production remained entirely at the hobby level; Sordini's guidance was also largely limited to recipes given over the phone. According to the same account, Marola completed his basic equipment and settled into more regular work in 2007, and formally registered his activity in 2010.

In the same interview a few masters' names are mentioned: help is said to have come from Vilma Armellini of the Armellini bench for disc shaping, and from the experienced maker Luigi Crugnola for bench work. A week spent in 2010 with Swedish maker Ronny Thunér is also said to have been one of the turning points where he pulled his technique together.