Volkan

Volkan is a pipe brand handmade by Alberto F. Paronelli in the town of Gavirate, in the northern Italian province of Varese. It is a workshop-scale brand registered directly under its maker's name: every pipe is shaped by a single hand, without a production line. Volkan is regarded as the second branch of a long-established surname in Italian pipe-making; the first branch is Paronelli, the same family's older brand.

Family History

The Paronelli name entered Italian pipe history in 1945. Jean Marie Alberto Paronelli, who started the trade that year, was not merely a craftsman making pipes; he also worked to institutionalize pipe culture in Italy, and the founding of the pipe museum in Gavirate is attributed to him. His son Antonio carried on the business, and in the third generation two brothers continued along separate brands: Ariberto Paronelli remained at the head of the family brand, while Alberto gathered his own signature into a separate line under the name Volkan. As the story goes, the brand's name is a reference to his grandfather's tireless energy for generating ideas. The year Alberto moved into production at his own workshop in Gavirate is given in records as 2008.