Charatan (by Dunhill; c.2000s) Mayfair Smooth Billiard (Unsmoked Estate)

While there are a fair few historic British pipe brands, Charatan is not only older than most, 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 (later of Dunhill, then Sasieni fame), Stan Haney (later of Ashby Hall), Dennis Marshall (later of Milville), and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones (later of James Upshall).

Given that Charatan pipes have been around since the 1870s, it’s only natural that the ownership of the brand, along with the circumstances of their production, has changed a fair few times in the last 150 years or so. In the beginning, F. Charatan and Son was independently owned and operated by the Charatan family, but by the 1960s, it had been purchased by Lane Ltd., giving way to the so-called “Lane era.” Toward the end of the 1970s, Lane Ltd. sold Charatan once more to Alfred Dunhill Ltd., which took control of the company for the next decade, after which it was sold again, this time to J.B. Russell, Inc.. Finally, in the first years of the 21st century, Charatan underwent its most recent change in ownership and, oddly enough, the purchaser was Dunhill, for the second time in the make’s history.

This particular Charatan comes from that “second Dunhill era,” as it is sometimes called. It’s an example of the Mayfair, which was one of the higher-end lines of Dunhill-produced Charatans a good few years back, though I’m not entirely sure if they’re still in production. In fact, I’m not sure if Dunhill makes Charatan pipes at all anymore. Beautifully grained and dressed in a light brown finish, the pipe is fitted with a special, patented Double Comfort mouthpiece, which has been standard for Charatan pipes since the famous Lane era.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating, having come to us from a new old stock lot from a store closure over in Europe. As such, it comes with its original box and sleeve.

Details:

Length: 5.97″ / 151.6mm

Chamber Width: 0.78″ / 19.81mm

Chamber Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Bowl Height: 2.05″ / 52.07mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g