Charatan’s Make Lane Era Executive Spiral 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, and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones, who later went on to create James Upshall pipes.

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 its 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. Charatan was the first British make to meet this challenge head-on, by way of pipes such as this Extra Large Executive grade, produced all the way back during the “first Lane era” of 1961-65. Featuring masterful straight grain and an equally masterful spiral carved shank, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that pipes like this one helped Britain survive its second Scandinavian invasion.

The condition is very good. Minor inner darkening and finish fading on the rim, a slightly over-reamed chamber, and slightly faded nomenclature (though still legible).

 

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.68″ / 42.67mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g