Charatan’s Make Executive Extra Large Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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 (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).

As far as English pipes go, Charatan was a true pioneer, and in more than one sense. Both Frederick Charatan and his son (and eventual sucessor) Reuben Charatan were early proponents of straight grained pipes as the pinnacle of the craft, and it was under Reuben’s tenure that Charatan opened up England’s first, dedicated freehand workshop at the end of the 1950s. When Herman Lane entered the picture, he took these aspects of the Charatan make and amplified them like never before, with Charatan pipes ultimately becoming some of the most prestigious (and expensive) briars in the world. Even more impressive is that Charatan was able to do this amidst a surge in demand for Danish pipes, especially the freehand variety.

This Charatan, for example, is one of the make’s esteemed straight grain grades, the Executive. It’s also a freehand—and an Extra Large one at that—taking the form of a sizeable pickaxe-Dublin hybrid with a flaring “bell” bowl and an exceptionally wide chamber.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening, chamber slightly over-reamed, minor finish fading, and a slightly over-buffed stem.

Details:

Length: 6.7″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 1.20 / 30.48mm

Bowl Depth: 1.91″ / 48.51mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g