Charatan’s Make First Lane Era (c.1961-5) Executive Smooth Bent Brandy Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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 (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 particular Charatan is one of the make’s famed straight grain pipes and, based on the nomenclature, will have been made during its similarly famed “Lane era.” More specifically, it looks to be from the so-called “first Lane era,” that being the years between approximately 1961 and 1965, a time during which Charatan was catapulted into world renown for their beautifully grained, English freehand pipes. The design is quite an interesting one, with an almost sack-like bowl, hanging from a distinctly “raised” shank.

The condition is very good. Some minor general wear to the rim (a spot of inner rim darkening and slight finish fading) and a couple of very small scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.63″ / 41.40mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g