English Estates: Charatan's Make Sandblasted Billiard (102X) Tobacco Pipe

Charatan boasts a long, well-respected history of pipe making, with Frederick Charatan founding the business in 1863. One of the first pipe makers in England, Charatan began by producing meerschaum pipes, finding great success and quickly needing to relocate to a larger workshop, and it was here that Charatan began to carve briar pipes. Charatan has the rare distinction of being the first marque in England to hand-make their briar pipes from start to finish, starting with a raw block of burl and a vulcanite blank, coining the process with the now-iconic stamping of "Charatan's Make." Charatan was so successful that, before Dunhill began to make their own briars, Charatan actually supplied the legendary marque with pipes from 1908 to 1910. In 1962, then leader Reuben Charatan passed away, and the rights to the Charatan brand were sold in the next few years to Lane, who was the primary distributor for their pipes. Charatan then changed hands several more times in the following years, before being bought by Dunhill in 2002. A hearty, rather lengthy briar from Charatan's, this "102X" Billiard features the robust shaping aesthetic for which the English marque is known. The tall, deep-chambered and solid bowl displays a slight taper toward the rim from a firm heel, while a streamlined combination of round shank and saddle stem stretch out proportionally in back. Well balanced, with clean, sleek lines, it's dressed in a ruddy, crisp sandblast, providing visual and textural stimulation. Forgoing the double-comfort bit, this pipe presents a timeless color palette.