Royal Crown Windsor Giant Chubby Straight Pot Estate Briar Pipe [SOLD OUT]

Description

Royal Crown was a make of pipes produced by Hardcastle prior to its merger with Dunhill. Hardcastle was founded by Edmund Hardcastle in 1906, in London, England. Like many pipe-makers of the time, such as Barling and Sasieni Hardcastle was a family-owned business, with its ‘family era’ coming to an end over the course of the years 1936-1946, when Dunhill partially, then fully, bought out the Hardcastle factory and name.

One indication that this Royal Crown is from Hardcastle’s pre-Dunhill, family era manufacture is its size. Its nomenclature designates it as a ‘Giant,’ but at under 6 inches in length and at less than 60 grams in weight, it is hardly the kind of magnum-proportioned ‘giant’ pipes we are used to day. But in the early 20th century, briar pipes were typically smaller than their contemporary counterparts, so perhaps a pipe like this one will have qualified as much larger than the norm. In any case, it is a muscular billiard, somewhat reminiscent of Dunhill’s LB shape. The grain patterns are a nice, fiery mix of various figures, too. It should make for a fantastic workhorse.

The condition is good. The rim is a little darkened and there are a few, shallow tooth indentations, but nothing to stop the pipe from continuing to be a solid smoker.

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.62″ / 41.14mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g