Radice

Radice is a pipe workshop established in the town of Cucciago, in the province of Como in northern Italy. Luigi "Gigi" Radice, whose name the brand carries, was born in 1939 and entered pipe making in the early 1960s, in the nearby town of Cantù, in the workshop of Carlo Scotti, who made Castello pipes. This apprenticeship period instilled in him all the basic habits of the Italian handmade pipe tradition.

From Caminetto to His Own Brand

After his years at Castello, Radice founded Caminetto together with his colleague Peppino Ascorti, a brand that found wide resonance outside Italy as well. By the records, the partnership began in 1968, and in the mid-1970s, with the contribution of Milanese distributor Gianni Davoli, carried the brand into the international market. Radice left the partnership in late 1979 and began production under his own name in early 1980.

The new workshop was a family business from the outset. The founder's father, Paolo Radice, took part in some of the basic stages of production; his son Gianluca was likewise at the bench from the founding years on. Another son, Marzio, joined the business in later years, and the two brothers, having trained alongside their father, gradually took on an ever-larger share of production. Gigi Radice did not step away from his own bench work throughout this period.