Charatan’s Make Special Smooth Panel 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.

There’s an old Pipes and Tobaccos magazine article from about two decades ago, one concerning the history of Charatan, where Tad Gade makes an astute observation. That being that, in the face of the innovative and exceptionally made freehand pipes coming out of Denmark in the 1960s and 1970s, Charatan was the first British company to meet this competition with their own equally innovative and equally exceptional freehand pipes. This one fits that bill completely, being a large and beautiful straight grain, hand-turned at Charatan’s London factory. The difference, of course, is that Charatan had their own distinct style to the Danes, which can also be seen quite clearly here.

The condition is very good. Some charring at the back of the inner rim and a few light scratches on the bowl.

 

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 1.16 / 29.46mm

Bowl Depth: 2.2″ / 55.88mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g