Savinelli

Savinelli is the flagship of Italian pipe making. The story that began with the shop Achille Savinelli opened in 1876 in Milan, near the Duomo at Via Orefici 2, is regarded as one of the world's first stores devoted solely to pipes and tobacco products. The shop still operates at the same address today.

From Shop to Brand

Achille Sr. believed that briar's future would prevail at a time when clay and meerschaum still dominated the pipe market — and in Italy, moreover, where tobacco trading was a state monopoly. He had the models he designed himself made by workshops in the region of Varese, north of Milan. A number of these pipes were exhibited at the Esposizione Industriale Italiana in 1881, the forerunner of today's Milan Fair.

After the founder, the business passed in 1890 to his son Carlo, who ran the shop for more than fifty years. Under Carlo the shop became the main gathering place for Milan's pipe enthusiasts. Carlo's son Achille Savinelli Jr., born in 1918, spent his youth designing pipes in the small workshop at the back of the shop.