Originally Posted by
NeverBend
Nice paid of pipes Tab.
I've been a fan of the Punto Oro Corallo for nearly 40 years. Even after I was importing several lines of fine pipes, I sold a lot of Punto Oro Corallos, enough that we remained a Savinelli national Top-5 pipe account.
When I went to England, in 1980 (First Dunhill Pipe Conference), I brought a mediocre smoking, group 5, Dunhill Bruyere Zulu to the (Dunhill) factory and had Bernie Knighton carve it like a Punto Oro Corallo in natural rustication. It actually smoked a little better but I traded it some time later :).
By 1981 I discontinued all my other private label branded pipes in the store, except for a Punto Oro knockoff that was made for us by US Tobacco. I was assured that it was our exclusive (and I was ordering in multiple gross quantities) but they started appearing in other stores so that, effectively, the Tilshead (James Upshall 2nd) became my house brand pipe in the last half year that I had the store. All the Punto Oro look alike pipes, (that I've seen), that sometimes surface on eBay, originally with lucite stems and sometimes ferrules, were my design.
You have the original and glad that it smokes well, they're excellent pipes!
