[Mimmo interview] A visit to the briar block workshop

Meeting Mr Domenico Roméo is a lesson in life. Generous as ever, Domenico, known to all as “Mimmo”, invited our team to visit him in his briar block workshop in the town of Taggia, in north-western Italy.

On the programme: a tour of the workshop and a look at the various stages in the making of briar blocks. Those familiar with the world of pipes know what cutting briar involves, but newcomers will find the following definition of the word “ébauchon”, or briar block: a small block roughly cut from the briar root, intended for pipe makers, from which bowls and stems are produced. We can tell you that cutting briar is anything but rough, quite the opposite.

Smoking > Who are you? // Introduce yourself to our readers.

When we ask this question, we meet a Mimmo who is embarrassed, almost shy. We quickly move on to the following questions, which turn to anecdotes, to passion and to work.

Roméo Domenico > “My name is Roméo Domenico, everybody calls me Mimmo and… that is all.”

Smoking > Where does your nickname Mimmo come from?

Mimmo > “It is a family tradition from the south of Italy, where my parents come from. Everyone has called me that since I was born, it is my nickname. I carry my grandfather’s first name. In Calabria, the short form of Domenico is Mimmo.”

Smoking > Tell us a little about where your hat comes from.

Looking amused, Mimmo gives us his answer while holding his famous hat in his hands.

Mimmo > “It is the first thing I learned when I started out in the trade. My father told me it was practical and cheap, and that I would wear it six or seven hours a day. If you lose it you can easily make another; it is light and really ‘efficiente’, as we say in Italian.
I did not know it, but my mother had kept the first paper hat I wore and written the date on it. I only found out ten years later, and the wonderful thing is that everyone recognises me by it today. We could never have imagined that people would remember that; it is incredible that she kept that first hat from 1988.”

Smoking > How would you describe your trade?

Mimmo > “Every morning when I get up I do not think about going to work; I wake up and go and do something I love. There are hard sides to it and others less so, as in any activity. The satisfaction we find in this work is far greater than the difficulties we come across, so we do it with pleasure. I do not think about starting or finishing my work, I believe it is more than a trade, it is a way of living.”

Smoking > When and how did you join the pipe industry?

Mimmo > “My father took up this trade in the south of Italy, surrounded by his cousins. He then worked in the Liguria region a few kilometres from here, still with the family. Then in 1969 he settled here, in this house, in Taggia.
He knew large production runs until 1975. After that date, worldwide production in the pipe trade fell, so he decided to base his work on quality. He was always a worker and was never afraid of change; he adapted his business to the market.
When I started in 1988 the business was much reduced, and at that time we had a very different view of the development ahead of us. He made only briar blocks and plateaux for pipe makers, while I wanted to make finished pipes. I spent about ten years learning the trade of briar cutter. I had the chance to work on making pipes in series, though not on my own account.
It was enjoyable and interesting, rather like briar block production: hard, repetitive work that encouraged me to turn towards high-end craft production. It rounds out my work, which until then stopped at the production of briar blocks.
Working on making pipes, and through the contacts I have with a great many pipe makers around the world, I have been able to discover new techniques and new cutting options.”

Smoking > What are the stages in the making of your products, and which one do you prefer?

Mimmo > “We take delivery of the briar burls and store them in a damp room so that they can be cut quickly. About ten days after cutting, we boil the briar blocks and then leave them to dry for close to three months. The final stage is sorting the blocks by size.
The time needed for a drilled pipe ready to be smoked is between one year and eighteen months for the whole process to be complete; it varies with the size of the pipe. But in my case it is about three years, between the moment I choose my briar block and the making of the model I have in mind.”

Smoking > Who are your customers?

Mimmo > “Our customers are workshops working on a craft or an industrial scale, in France and abroad. I am in touch with French, Italian, Danish, Japanese and Chinese craftsmen. Craftsmen the world over need briar, and briar only exists in the Mediterranean. We cannot send a damp burl to be worked in America.
For my part, business has grown over the past seven years. On the other hand, there are few briar cutters and the number of pipes produced is fairly stable. The cutter’s trade is very hard and candidates are rare. Young people find the work dirty and dangerous, and it above all calls for real commitment.”

Smoking > In your field, what counts as news or innovation?

Mimmo > “In our trade there is no real major innovation; we use the same machines as fifty years ago, and we struggle to find blades because the new ones do not suit our machines.
We recently bought a machine to sharpen them, whereas in the past we did it by hand.
These small adjustments make our daily work easier but they do not revolutionise the making of briar blocks.
As for pipe production, there are more tools to help with production, to turn pipes for example, or to bring in new designs. But the heart of our trade is craft work, which is a piece of luck in one way, since it lets us keep our values and sustain the commitment we bring to our work.”

Smoking > What skills and/or training does your trade call for?

Mimmo > “There is no specialist school for learning this trade. Personally, I was set to become a gymnastics teacher, but I had not yet chosen between the cutter’s trade and teaching. After some thought, I began my apprenticeship with my father, giving myself a trial period of three years. My father used to say my hands were too big, and my mother felt that taking up this old trade was not a good idea. In the end my big hands proved useful and let me handle the burls delicately, like a pair of tongs, for safer and more precise work.
I found my own technique and cultivated this love of craftsmanship and of work well done.”

Smoking > What anecdote or quotation would you like to share with us?

Mimmo > “I will share my experience and my feelings about our trade with you. Ever since I began, everyone has been saying that the trade is in crisis and that business is falling. I hear a lot of customers complaining, so I do not know whether they do it to stop me raising my prices or simply out of habit.
I must admit I do not like that, because I believe that with ‘positivity’ we cannot change the whole world, but we can live better.
Many would see the world of the pipe as an ageing sector, but that is wrong. Today you will find superb modern and original models. Did you know that in China the average age of pipe smokers is under 40? They like these ‘cool’ objects that come from Europe and respect craft manufacture. In the end it is a matter of one’s relationship with the object.
There is a great deal of marketing work to be done in this sector. Many people think that only pipe smokers take an interest in the pipe, but that is not true: when I meet new people and explain my trade to them, they spend hours finding out about the wood and the work. It is an object with an archaic image that tells a genuinely interesting story. Before that piece of wood is on my table, before I start cutting it, other people have been out in the forest, have worked away with picks, have dug it up, carried it and delivered it, so that it can finally be cut and then go through all the stages I have described to you.
Whether you make jewellery or pipes from briar, there is a whole culture and a passing on of energy from the first moment to the last, and people want to know these stories.
Small woods rarely have rich characteristics, whereas briar has a fine grain, a beautiful flame and a natural colour that people like.
As for a quotation, I always remember my father’s words, which he repeated again and again:

“If you can do a job today, do it, do not wait until tomorrow.”