Willmer Straight Grain AAA Standard Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

H. Willmer and Sons was an English pipe workshop founded at some point in the mid-20th century and closed in the mid-2000s. Harold Willmer himself was the brother of Dan Tennyson, one of Charatan’s freehand carvers, and would, according to Ken Barnes, often buy bowls from Charatan’s freehand workshop, which would be subsequently finished by Willmer’s craftsmen. In addition to these pipes, Willmer also manufactured more traditional briars, which were also made by hand.

In addition to generously providing a wealth of information about Charatan and James Upshall, Kennedy Barnes’ regular question and answer sessions on Pipes Magazine Forums in the late 2010s revealed a fascinating and hitherto unknown aspect about the British make Willmer. It turns out that, while Harold Willmer never worked for Charatan, he would occasionally buy stummels, which had been turned by Charatan’s freehand carvers. These bowls would then be finished and sold as Willmer pipes. So, now, whenever a Willmer freehand lands on my desk, the same question pops into my mind: is this Willmer actually a Charatan? Or, at least, is the stummel Charatan’s? If that was the case, then this large, traditional saddle billiard would easily have made it into Charatan’s high grades, just as it did for Willmer. The titular straight grain patterns are indeed quite magnificent, with “angel hair” striations lining the bowl.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its (slightly worn) original box and sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g