A Cue Built for the World's Best Female 3-Cushion Player
Therese Klompenhouwer claimed her 6th UMB Women's World Three-Cushion Championship in Cartagena, Spain in 2025, then followed it up with the 2026 CEB European Championship title, defeating Charlotte Sørensen 30:18. The cue in her hands for both victories was the Longoni Epica.
The Epica is a Custom Pro category carom cue developed in direct collaboration with Klompenhouwer. It's her second signature model with Longoni, following the success of the "Sensazione." That kind of repeat partnership doesn't happen unless the first one delivered real results at the table.
Longoni has been building cues since 1945. When the company invests in a collaboration with a 6-time world champion and 13-time European champion, the result carries serious weight. This article breaks down what makes the Epica technically exceptional, who it's designed for, and what you should know before investing at the $1,495.00 price point.
The global carom billiards equipment market is growing steadily, and carbon fiber shafts have been identified as the most sought-after upgrade in the segment as of 2025 and 2026. The Epica, with its Luna Nera graphite shaft, sits at the center of that shift.
What "Custom Pro" Actually Means, and Why It Matters
The term "Custom Pro" gets thrown around loosely, so let's clarify. A standard production cue is designed for general use across a wide range of players. A signature cue might feature a player's name and preferred aesthetics. A Custom Pro cue is something different entirely.
Custom Pro means the cue's specifications, including weight, shaft flex, tip size, joint type, and balance, were engineered around a specific professional player's style and physical requirements. For the Epica, that player is Klompenhouwer, whose game demands extreme low deflection, precise cue ball control, and consistent energy transfer across long 3-cushion sequences.
When you buy a Custom Pro cue, you're getting access to the same engineered performance platform a world champion uses during competition. This is not a cosmetic endorsement or a logo stamped on a stock cue. It's a performance tool shaped by thousands of hours of professional play.
Longoni has a deep history in this space. Since the 1980s, the company has collaborated with legends like Raymond Ceulemans, Ludo Dielis, and Marco Zanetti. That decades-long track record of working with top-tier professionals is what gives the Custom Pro designation its credibility. The Epica is the latest chapter in that tradition.
URAL Hornbeam Butt: Tradition Meets Sustainability
The Epica's butt is made from URAL wood, European hornbeam treated with Longoni's deep staining process. Introduced in fall 2019, this process gives the wood a distinctive, rich appearance while preserving its structural integrity.
Why hornbeam instead of standard maple? Hornbeam offers medium-to-high gravity, which translates to better mass and feel in your hand. It's naturally stable with a long service life, making it an excellent foundation for a cue built to last through years of serious play.
There's also a sustainability angle worth noting. European hornbeam is not at risk of extinction, making it an eco-conscious material choice. For players who care about where their equipment comes from and how it affects the environment, this matters.
The pairing of a traditional URAL hornbeam butt with a graphite shaft is a deliberate design philosophy: the warmth and mass of natural wood where you grip the cue, combined with cutting-edge technology where the cue meets the ball. The overall cue weight falls between 500 and 540 grams, standard for 3-cushion play and reflective of the density properties of the hornbeam butt.
Every Longoni cue, including the Epica, is produced 100% in Italy at the Mariano Comense factory in the province of Como, under strict staff quality control. That commitment to Italian manufacturing has remained unbroken since 1945.
Luna Nera FE71 Shaft: Five Years of Carbon Fiber Engineering
The Luna Nera FE71 is a pure graphite shaft built from unidirectional carbon with layered graphite at variable orientations. This construction method maximizes strength, push, and controlled elasticity, all of which contribute to what players experience as extreme low deflection.
For a 3-cushion player, low deflection means more accurate cue ball placement with less need to compensate for squirt. On angle shots, where even small deviations can send the cue ball off course over three rails, that consistency is the difference between making and missing the point. You aim where you want the ball to go, and the shaft stays out of the way.
The specs tell the story of a precisely engineered component: 11.8 mm tip diameter with a Fuji Regular Medium tip factory-installed, 70.5 cm shaft length, 22 mm joint diameter, and 120 grams total shaft weight.
Development of the Luna Nera began in 2015 and launched commercially in 2020 after five full years of research and practical testing by Longoni's composite materials team. This is not a product rushed to market to capitalize on a trend. It was refined over half a decade before it reached players' hands.
The practical advantages over wood shafts are significant. The Luna Nera is non-deformable and resistant to humidity, meaning it performs consistently whether you're playing in a dry winter club or a humid summer tournament venue. Longoni backs it with a 24-month warranty against manufacturing defects, which speaks to their confidence in the product.
The carbon fiber vs. wood debate continues in the carom community, but the market direction is clear. Carbon fiber shafts are the dominant upgrade trend in 2025 and 2026, with the 3-cushion cue market growing at 3.8% annually, driven largely by demand for high-tech materials. The Luna Nera represents where the sport is heading.
VP2 Titanium Joint and the 3Lobite Extension System
The connection point between butt and shaft is one of the most critical (and most overlooked) components of any cue. The Epica uses Longoni's VP2 Titanium joint, introduced in 2010 specifically to improve game mechanics. It creates an ultra-firm lock between the butt and shaft, ensuring full energy transfer with no vibration loss at the joint.
In practical terms, a firmer joint means the energy from your stroke reaches the cue ball more completely. Shot consistency improves. Power efficiency improves. You feel the hit cleanly, without any mushiness or dampening at the connection point.
The Epica also includes the 3Lobite innovative extension system, which allows players to adjust the cue's overall length. This matters for players who need a longer reach on certain shots or prefer a different balance point during play. It's a small addition that makes a real difference in versatility.
The complete Epica package includes the 3Lobite extension, Longoni Joint Protectors (Made in Italy), a Longoni Soft Case, a Longoni Patch, and a Longoni Cue Certificate. Longoni also uses the Certilogo authentication system, which allows buyers to verify the authenticity of their cue online. When you're investing $1,495.00 in a premium cue, being able to confirm it's genuine provides real peace of mind, especially when purchasing through an online dealer.
Choosing Your Epica Configuration: Luna Nera vs. S20 vs. S30
The Epica is available in three shaft configurations. Understanding the differences will help you pick the right one for your game:
- 1 Luna Nera FE71 shaft — The flagship graphite option. Maximum low deflection and modern performance for players who want the cutting edge of cue technology.
- 2 S20 E71 shafts — Dual wooden shafts for players who prefer a traditional feel, with the convenience of having a backup shaft ready.
- 2 S30 E71 shafts — Dual wooden shafts at a higher wood grade, offering enhanced feel and consistency over the S20.
If you're a competitive 3-cushion player or someone transitioning from wood who wants a measurable performance edge, the Luna Nera configuration is the one to consider. If you're rooted in traditional wood play and prefer that tactile feedback, the S20 or S30 configurations give you the full Epica experience with the shaft feel you know.
All three configurations use the same VP2 Titanium joint and the same URAL hornbeam butt. The core Epica experience is consistent across options. The $1,495.00 price listed at billiard.city corresponds to the Luna Nera FE71 shaft configuration. For the S20 or S30 setups, reach out to us directly to confirm pricing and availability.
Who Is the Longoni Epica Built For?
To be straightforward: the Epica is engineered for serious intermediate to advanced 3-cushion players and competitive carom billiards players. At $1,495.00, it is not a beginner cue, and we wouldn't recommend it as one.
Before investing in the Epica, you should have a consistent stroke, an understanding of cue ball spin and deflection, and a desire to eliminate equipment variables from your game. If you're at that stage, this cue removes guesswork and lets you focus entirely on technique and strategy.
Recreational players who are genuinely committed to improving can also benefit. The Luna Nera's consistency and durability make it a cue that grows with you over years of development. It's a long-term investment, not a short-term purchase.
To place the Epica in context within the Longoni lineup: at $1,495.00, it sits between the Istanbul ($1,450.00) and the Como ($1,650.00). All three are serious competition-grade cues, but the Epica's direct connection to Klompenhouwer's playing requirements gives it a unique performance identity.
As an authorized Longoni dealer, billiard.city provides genuine products with full factory warranties. When you're investing at this level, knowing your cue is authentic and backed by the manufacturer's warranty is essential.
Why the Epica Represents the Future of Carom Cue Design
The Epica brings together 80+ years of Italian craftsmanship, sustainable material choices, and cutting-edge carbon fiber shaft technology into a single cue. It respects tradition while pushing the sport forward.
The numbers support this direction. The global billiards and snooker equipment market is valued at $375.85 million in 2026 and projected to reach $532.46 million by 2034. Carom billiards accounts for roughly 28% of that market, and the shift toward high-tech materials like carbon fiber is accelerating year over year.
The strongest validation remains this: a 6-time world champion and 13-time European champion chose this cue. Therese Klompenhouwer didn't just put her name on the Epica. She helped engineer it, tested it through competition, and used it to win at the highest level of the sport. That's real-world performance proof no marketing campaign can replicate.
If you're a serious 3-cushion player ready to invest in a world-champion-level cue, the Longoni Epica Carom Cue with Luna Nera Shaft is available at billiard.city. We're an authorized Longoni dealer and offer full factory warranty coverage with free US shipping on orders over $99.00.
Have questions about the Epica, its shaft configurations, or any other Longoni carom cue? Reach out to our team anytime, and we'll make sure you find the right cue for your game.