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Charatan: Difference between revisions
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Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred '''[[Dunhill]]''' who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 - 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel '''[[Sasieni]]''', one of Charatan's best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. | Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred '''[[Dunhill]]''' who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 - 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel '''[[Sasieni]]''', one of Charatan's best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. | ||
[[Image:char_und5.jpg|thumb|right|Charatan '''Underbore'''; ca. 1930's]] | [[Image:char_und5.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Charatan '''Underbore'''; ca. 1930's]] | ||
On the retirement of his father in 1910 '''Reuben Charatan''' took over the family business. | On the retirement of his father in 1910 '''Reuben Charatan''' took over the family business. | ||
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In 1988 Dunhill sold the rights to the Charatan name, trademark and shape chart - there was hardly more left over to sell - to '''James B. Russell Inc.''' (Upper Saddle River, NJ). Russell had made his Charatan pipes in Saint-Claude, France. [[Butz-Choquin]] is said to be the manufacturer. Now, Saint-Claude made pipes are surely not bad per axiom, but these Charatans were woefully poor counterfeits of the "real" ones and quite a flop in sale. | In 1988 Dunhill sold the rights to the Charatan name, trademark and shape chart - there was hardly more left over to sell - to '''James B. Russell Inc.''' (Upper Saddle River, NJ). Russell had made his Charatan pipes in Saint-Claude, France. [[Butz-Choquin]] is said to be the manufacturer. Now, Saint-Claude made pipes are surely not bad per axiom, but these Charatans were woefully poor counterfeits of the "real" ones and quite a flop in sale. | ||
When J.B. Russell went out of business in 2002 Dunhill re-purchased Charatan and called on '''Colin Fromm''' of [[Invicta Briars]] and [[Castleford]] fame to produce Charatan freehands now. Since Colin Fromm and his foreman Colin Leeson, both belonging to the small number of English pipe artisans skilled in making high-end freehand shapes, had already been making exquisite freehands for Dunhill for a couple of years in Chatham, Kent. | [[Image:CharatanFreehand.jpg|thumb|200px|A Charatan Freehand sandblast from the period after Dunhill acquired the company - Courtesy of Mike Ahmadi]] When J.B. Russell went out of business in 2002 Dunhill re-purchased Charatan and called on '''Colin Fromm''' of [[Invicta Briars]] and [[Castleford]] fame to produce Charatan freehands now. Since Colin Fromm and his foreman Colin Leeson, both belonging to the small number of English pipe artisans skilled in making high-end freehand shapes, had already been making exquisite freehands for Dunhill for a couple of years in Chatham, Kent. | ||
[[File:B 1-3.jpg|thumb|200px|Charatan 4420 & 4420DC Courtesy Yuriy Novikov]] | [[File:B 1-3.jpg|thumb|200px|Charatan 4420 & 4420DC Courtesy Yuriy Novikov]] | ||
<gallery> | <gallery> | ||