Charatan’s Make Selected 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).

During the Reuben era of Charatan pipes—the time when Reuben Charatan owned and operated F. Charatan & Son—the Selected was the penultimate grade achievable by any given pipe, surpassed in quality only by the Supreme. During the Lane era—the time when Herman Lane’s Lane Ltd. took ownership of F. Charatan & Son—the company’s grading system was continually expanded, with new grades inserted within and—in some cases—beyond the modest four that Reuben Charatan had worked by. The Selected remained in the upper echelons of Charatan’s system, however, and, true to their name, these were select pipes, available to the select few who could find and afford one.

This one features an interesting mix of hallmark Charatan shaping elements in the design. The bowl is distinguished by a wide, “bell” Dublin flare, as well as a furrow near the base, reminiscent of the “cup and saucer” motif first conceived by a young Barry Jones. Despite being a large pipe, it also has an almost stubby figure, on account of the sheer breadth of its bowl relative to its shank. As for dating, I would presume this to be from the first Dunhill era, i.e., from around 1976-79, when Dunhill had first purchased F. Charatan & Son from Lane Ltd., but before any major changes were made in the production of Charatan pipes. It is possible that it is an earlier make and that it simply lacks the Lane Ltd. “L” logo (as Charatans from that era sometimes did), though I’ll assume a 1976-79 vintage for the sake of erring on the side of caution as they say. Either way, it’s a great pipe, one that still very much belonged to some of Charatan’s best years.

The condition is very good. Minor inner rim darkening and slight handling marks.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 1.15 / 29.21mm

Bowl Depth: 1.72″ / 43.68mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g