Reuben Era Charatan’s Make 402, Sandblasted Canadian Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

While Dunhill may be Britain’s most famous pipe brand, Charatan is not only older, but has the honor of being the first to have made its pipes entirely in-house. ‘Charatan’s Make’ referred to the fact that, at a time when other pipe companies were sourcing stummels and stems carved from other companies before assembling them in their factories and workshops, Charatan made every part of their pipes on the Charatan premises. So began a legacy of high-quality pipe-making under the Charatan name, one whose employees, at one time or another, included Joel Sasieni, and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall fame.

As the Charatan name has existed for over 150 years, it is to be expected that ownership and operation of the company has changed hands a few times. For the earliest decades of its existence, Charatan was owned by the Charatan family. First, Frederick Charatan was at the reins; then, his son Reuben took over; after Reuben, Charatan was acquired by Lane Ltd., and so on. If my eyes do not deceive me, this particular Charatan is a rather uncommon ‘Reuben era’ pipe – from during Reuben Charatan’s time as owner. During this time, Reuben trained the celebrated pipe-maker Barry Jones, later of James Upshall fame. Every Charatan fan has their favorite era, but Reuben era pipes, such as this one, are generally regarded to be rarer specimens, and thus worthy of attention.

As for the pipe itself, it’s a very traditional Canadian shape, with an intensely craggy, ring grain sandblast – something these earlier, Reuben era Charatans are known for. It’s a large, long Canadian, but it isn’t too heavy, which is usually a sign of quality in the briar used. There’s a little rim darkening, and a tiny bit of oxidizing on the stem where we’ve made sure to keep the Charatan ‘CP’ stamp preserved, but otherwise the pipe is in a remarkable condition. The stamping is crisp, the sandblasting is still sharp and tactile, and the stem is free from tooth damage. An old fashioned gem, in every sense.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″

Bowl Width: 20.3mm

Bowl Depth: 1.8″

Weight: 1.5oz / 45g