Charatan's Make London England Belvedere 335DC Estate Pipe

CHARATAN'S MAKE, LONDON ENGLAND, BELVEDERE in three clear lines on the shank, 335DC beside them, and on the stem Charatan's white CP. This is a Charatan Belvedere that has never been smoked: a straight Dublin in glassy smooth briar, with a diamond-cut shank and a matching diamond vulcanite saddle stem that ends in a fishtail bit.

It is unsmoked and carries no filter. The shank and the stem are both cut with flat faces, so the diamond line carries on from the shank into the stem.

The maker's own 1951 catalogue calls Charatan England's oldest pipemakers. Frederick Charatan began in 1863 (one source says about 1873) with a meerschaum workshop in Mansell Street in the East End of London, then moved to Prescot Street and turned to briar. There he did something few English makers did at the time: he made the entire pipe in his own house, the bowl and the stem, from the rough block to the finished piece, instead of fitting together bowls and mouthpieces bought from others. CHARATAN'S MAKE on the shank is the promise of exactly that.

Quality of that kind found famous customers. Alfred Dunhill bought his pipes from Charatan between 1908 and 1910, before he set up his own workshop. In 1910 Frederick passed the business to his son Reuben. From 1955 the American importer Herman G. Lane carried Charatan across the United States, and Lane went on to buy the company in the early 1960s; in 1976 (some sources say 1978) Lane itself was bought by Dunhill. In 1988 the name was sold to J.B. Russell and production left London for France, and only around 2000 to 2002 did it return to Dunhill.

THE MARKS

- CHARATAN'S MAKE / LONDON ENGLAND / BELVEDERE stamped on the shank, in block capitals
- 335DC stamped on the shank
- CP, Charatan's monogram, in white on the stem
- REGD No 203573 on the underside of the stem

Belvedere is a grade, not a shape. Charatan sorted its pipes by the character of the grain, and a Lane-era catalogue describes the Belvedere's finish this way: "The rich burgundy finish is traditional British coloring - permitting the deep, extraordinary graining of the pipe to stand out." Collector sources name Belvedere as one of the four basic Charatan grades before Lane, the step below Executive, Selected and Supreme, although the maker's own 1951 catalogue does not list it - so the sources do not fully agree on how old the name is. On this pipe the stain is reddish under a high gloss; please see the photographs for the grain.

A Dublin bowl widens steadily from the heel to the rim, which gives it a lively, open look from the side and a chamber that broadens toward the top. Cutting the shank as a diamond, with flat faces instead of a round section, sharpens that line and gives the hand a definite grip. The number 335 does not appear on the Charatan shape chart we hold.

DC after the number stands for Double Comfort, the stem Charatan is best known for. It is a saddle stem whose bit drops in a small step, so the part the teeth hold is thinner than the stem behind it; here it ends in a fishtail, which spreads the smoke across the tongue. The Double Comfort was the one change Herman Lane made to Charatan's production at first, and it helps to date the pipe: Ferrara, who studied more than two thousand Charatans, found the DC stamp only on pipes made after 1960. The nomenclature is in block capitals, the London form used before the name was sold in 1988 (a script version of CHARATAN'S MAKE came back only after about 2000). Together the two marks point to London production, most likely between 1961 and 1987. Some sources place the first Double Comfort stems in the 1950s, but Ferrara's study puts the DC stamp after 1960.

Condition: unsmoked.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 145 mm (5.71 in)
- Bowl height: 48 mm (1.89 in)
- Bowl width: 43 mm (1.69 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 41 mm (1.61 in)
- Weight: 60 g (2.12 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 570