Ser Jacopo

Ser Jacopo, in full Ser Jacopo dalla Gemma, is a handmade pipe workshop working in Pesaro, on Italy's Adriatic coast. Its founder, Giancarlo Guidi, established the brand after leaving the Mastro de Paja partnership he had been part of for many years. The workshop is known for a finishing approach that pairs the bowl with rings of precious metal, horn, exotic wood, and stone.

Founding and Name

Guidi's partnership at Mastro de Paja ended in 1981, and his own brand was born immediately afterward. Sources give the founding year as 1982; some records place the start of commercial activity in 1983. In the early years, Guidi was joined by Bruto Sordini, whom he knew from the earlier workshop; according to accounts, Sordini left in 1988 to work under his own name. The brand name is said to derive from an Italian nobleman; records indicate it is a shortened form of "Jacopone," a name that appears in a Renaissance portrait. Guidi and Sordini are counted among the generation that turned Pesaro into one of the centers of Italian artisan pipe making.

Finishes and Tiers

On Ser Jacopo pipes, the surface finish is indicated by a code of letters and numbers.

Code	Meaning
R1, R2	Rustic; dark brown/plum and light brown
S, S1, S2, S3	Sandblast; black, dark brown, light brown, tanshell
L	Smooth body, red, mostly with a silver ring
L1, L2	Smooth body; flame grain and straight grain
L3	Top-tier straight grain, discontinued

Large bodies are stamped "Maxima," and the largest of all "Maxima Maxima." At the base of the catalog sit the Geppetto and La Fuma Finché Tira lines; the second-quality group made from flawed bodies is released under the name Modica. At the top of the tier ladder stands the Gem line: a socket is set into the mouthpiece in 18-karat gold, and the stone that gives the tier its name is mounted in that socket. From bottom to top the order runs Smeraldo (emerald), Granato (garnet), Zaffiro (sapphire), Rubino (ruby), and Brillante (diamond).

Themed and Limited Series

The Picta line takes its name directly from painting: it is shaped after pipes seen in works by Van Gogh, Magritte, Picasso, and Miró. This is the best-known of the workshop's thematic projects. Since 1996, the workshop has also released Domina every year, a "pipe of the year" limited to 333 numbered examples.

The Historica line, which reinterprets Guidi's older designs in a contemporary reading, began in 2009. The line's first member was Delecta, and in later years names such as Nauta, Senecta, Calabash, Captain Warren, Pulchra, and Cymatium were added. Numbered editions marking founding anniversaries have also been released along the way.

Stamp and Dating

The body stamp runs four lines: Ser Jacopo, Fatta A Mano, In Italia, Per Aspera Ad Astra. The second line states the product is handmade. The Latin phrase on the fourth line is the workshop's motto, roughly translated as "through hardship to the stars."

Since the stamp carries no year code, dating relies on the marker set into the mouthpiece. On pipes made between 1983 and 1997, this marker is a small dot of red coral; a thin silver ring is also seen around the dot on some examples. The coral dot was later dropped and replaced with a silver "J."

After Guidi

Giancarlo Guidi died on August 6, 2012. Management of the workshop passed to Maurizio Fraternale, whom he had first known as a material supplier and who later became his partner. The workshop continues production in Pesaro with a small team working briar, releasing new models that follow the shape language of its founder.