Willmer Straight Grain AAA Freehand Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Willmer was brand established by Dennis Marshall in London, England. Marshall had previously worked for Barling in the 1950s, later going on to run production at Charatan until the latter was sold to Dunhill. While at Charatan, Marshall worked with other notable British pipe-makers such as Barry Jones and Ken Barnes (later of James Upshall) and Stan Haley (later of Ashby Hall). Willmer continued until the mid-2000s, whereupon over five decades of Marshall’s pipe-making excellence sadly ended.

It never ceases to amaze me just how many of the UK’s best freehand pipe-makers passed through the doors of Charatan at some point. And, for many of them, something of the style of the Charatan freehands – especially the Lane era ones – was carried on in their next ventures. I’ve seen it in Stan Haney’s pipes, in the “Empire” series from James Upshall, and, like here, in Dennis Marshall’s Willmer make. If you’re familiar with Charatan’s freehands, then this distinctly larger than average combination of a stout, tall bowl with a square shank and saddle stem should be far from unfamiliar. The same goes for the quality; straight grain circling the bowl, bird’s-eye on the rim and base. Perfect.

The condition is great. There’s some rim darkening and the chamber is ever so slightly out of round at the lip, but nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g