Charatans Make 281, Sandblasted Straight Dublin Estate Briar Pipe

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.

This particular pipe requires some explanation. As one can see, it has a double comfort stem, indicating it is from the Lane era between the late 1950s and late 1970s – thought by many to have been Charatan’s best. But, as is plain to see, the Charatan’s name on the nomenclature has been crossed out by a long string of ‘X’s. Why is this? It’s not because it’s a second, because during this time Charatan had separate brands for that. It’s not a reject either, as this would have been determined long before the pipe was blasted and finished. There are two theories as to why such Charatan pipes exist:

• The first, endorsed by Adam Davidson, is that these were pipes gifted to tobacconists who sold Charatans. This would give tobacconist staff something to smoke and would also be another way to advertise Charatan pipes to customers.
• The second is that, because Charatan – like Dunhill – had a warranty policy, where one could have one’s pipe replaced in the eventuality of any defects revealed during smoking, the crossed out logo was used for replacement pipes. Essentially this meant that, if Charatan replaced the pipe you first bought from them, you couldn’t send that one back again or re-sell it. After all, most pipe companies, if they have replacement policies, will only replace your pipe once!

In either case, the pipe would be simply a regular-quality Charatan, rather than a second. However, due to the nomenclature, as well as the rim charring this Charatan has accumulated over the years, we have priced the pipe lower than we would normally do for such a pipe.

Details:

Length: 6″

Bowl Width: 22.4mm

Bowl Depth: 1.5″

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g