Roberto Ascorti, son of Giuseppe Ascorti, well known as "Peppino" met pipes since he was very young; he was a child when he was playing in Castello company, where his father Peppino was the responsible of the production.
Roberto studied at the Art Institute, always cultivating his passion for pipes and supporting more closely his father, who in 1968 closed the cooperation with Castello and started with his own company "Caminetto" with a successful production.
In 1980, when he was 22, Roberto wanted to devote himself to the creation of pipes, but there was no place for him in his father‘s factory; he started his journey with his name ASCORTI, supported and assisted by his father, his brother Pierangelo, the then girlfriend Silvana and by the team of his father‘s company, the historic "Caminetto", that in the meantime had stopped the production.
The new born Ascorti factory has the tradition, the experience, the know-how, the expertise and the quality that Peppino Ascorti matured over years, with innovation in modeling and technical solutions, in the name of tradition, brought by the young Roberto.
During years Roberto continued with love and experience to deal with the national and international markets such as European, American, Japanese and Chinese, very different from each other and tamed by progressive acceleration of change; now Roberto is supported by his son Tommaso, who with the same passion, wants to continue the tradition of his family, and from 2013 takes care about "Caminetto" brand.
While keeping steady the origins and tradition of pure handcrafts, Roberto renewed itself in style and design, by drawing each new model or reviewing the oldest, checking each phase of the process and working side by side with his precious collaborators.
Briars are personally selected from Roberto, who checks quality, dimensions, weight and the first seasoning, very important, which takes place in the quarrying and cutting area. After the first scrupulous control, the briar is "cuddled" for about two years, until reaching the seasoning considered suitable for working. Each piece is designed by Roberto and initially worked with small machines that have been personally handcrafted by his dad Peppino with the help of the sons in the 70‘s and that have been ad hoc realized to allow different processes as required by the artisan tradition.
After the realization of the inside holes, the production continues with an endless series of manual processes. The methacrylate mouthpiece is almost entirely hand-made from slabs, that are cut into bars, then drilled and then file and sandpaper.
Ninety are the steps, big and small but all important, that Roberto requires in order to consider his "creature" finished and ready to be shown to the customer.
All the love that Roberto pours in his pipes, is absorbed by his employees and his family and understood by smokers all over the world, who never fail to give satisfaction with praises and public and private commendations.
Our philosophy? The love and passion in what we do with the help of the people around us.