Charatan Reject Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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.

Given that the Great British makes of the 20th century had very high standards for their pipes, it was inevitable that some pipes, over the course of their production, would be deemed not suitable to be marketed as main-line products. When a flaw discovered during production was simply cosmetic, these companies found other outlets for their sale. Some makes, such as Sasieni had a litany of sub-brands for pipes that didn’t achieve Four Dot status; other makes, such as Fribourg & Treyer, simply sold these pipes as “Rejects.” This pipe, from the venerable Charatan, appears to have taken the latter option. The flaw that disqualified the pipe from being a main-line Charatan is visible on the left side of the bowl, toward the base, and as can be seen, it’s a superficial thing. The pipe should still smoke as well as any other Charatan, and may well be a great introduction to smokers looking to explore the make.

The condition is very good. A little rim darkening, and one worn out fill.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 1.05 / 26.67mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g