Hardcastle’s Perfecto Smooth Poker Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Hardcastle was founded by Edmund Hardcastle in 1906, in London, England. Like many pipe-makers of the time, such as Barling and Sasieni Hardcastle was originally a family-owned business, with its ‘family era’ coming to an end over the course of the years 1936-1946. During this time, Dunhill partially, then fully, bought out the Hardcastle factory and name, later merging its Parker and Masta acquisitions with Hardcastle in 1967, creating Parker-Hardcastle.

This Hardcastle has me a little puzzled. On the one hand, it’s a great looking, beautifully grained pipe. On the other, the shape is very similar to some of Dunhill’s mid-century poker (or cherrywood, depending on who you ask) renditions. I find it difficult to believe this would have been a Dunhill second, especially with a name line “Perfecto,” so I’d imagine it would be a pre-1967 piece at the very least.

The condition is good. Some slight inner rim charring.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.38″ / 35.05mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g