Charatans Make Distinction, Lane Era Handmade Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD OUT]

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 is a very interesting pipe indeed. As can be seen by the circled ‘£’ emblem stamped on the shank, it is from the Lane era (late 1950s-late 1970s), thought by many to have been its best. I’m not entirely sure what shape I would call this – perhaps ‘freehand’ does it the most justice, as Charatan had their own history with the freehand approach quite independently of the Danish tradition. It’s actually quite ingenious, as the contours of the bowl afford a perfect purchase for one’s fingers when holding the pipe. I imagine the shape was also influenced significantly by the grain, which has been put to use magnificently by the resulting product.

Details:

Length: 5.5″

Bowl Width: 24.0mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″

Weight: 2.2oz / 65g