Charatan’s Make First Lane Era (1961-5) Special Extra Large Smooth Freehand 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).

While Charatan remains famous for its straight grain pipes, there was still a place within the make’s grading schemes for other kinds of beautiful briar patterns. The Special was one such grade which, during the legendary Lane era (to which this pipe belongs), boasted “Perfection in graining in a natural finish.” Sometimes this was superior cross-grain, sometimes bird’s-eye, and sometimes, as in the case of this one, flame grain. While the Special was introduced in the “Reuben era” of F. Charatan & Son, the nomenclature on this Extra Large example indicates it as belonging to the “first Lane era”—i.e., the years immediately following the passing of Reuben Charatan, during which Herman Lane was at the company’s helm, which are typically dated to between 1961-5. These were also the years that saw Charatan’s freehand workshop ascend to the heights it is remembered for. In other words, it was pipes like this one that proved to the world just how Special Charatan was.

The condition is good. Some inner rim darkening, a couple of very slight scratches on the bowl, and minor tooth chatter.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.79″ / 45.46mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g