Admittedly, every Charatan I decide to list or keep feels very special to me, but this specific pipe has a lot more going for it than the “regular” Charatan!

Let me start with the shape — the only reason you are able to see this shape in the shop is because I am doing my best not to be a hoarder… This is one of my absolute favourite pipe shapes and probably Number 1 when it comes to how it smokes and performs.

It is practically an extra-large Pot with an oval shank, but the walls are not straight like on most Pots. They are rounded, similar to the walls of an Apple shape, and additionally we have an “easy load” style rim, just like on many GBDs. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this pipe has almost the exact same dimensions as my two Upshalls of the same shape — I guess Barry Jones was a big enough fan of the shape and decided to honour it in his Upshall production.

Now let me tell you about the “Perfection” grade, because it is actually a very funny and somewhat petty story…

The Charatan–Dunhill feud needs no introduction. Dunhill would claim that his pipes were the best pipes in the world and that they were just perfect… Charatan put incredible importance on the grain of the pipes they produced, and in their opinion a nice pipe where no attention was paid to the grain could never be a “perfect” one, not even a “very good” one.

They decided to show their petty side by creating a pipe that would equal and exceed what a Dunhill Root was and then grade it according to their own standards. They ended up with a catalog-shape line with really nice cross grain, which they called Perfection, basically marking the spot where Dunhill Roots would have landed if they were produced by Charatan.

The Perfection was Charatan’s second-lowest smooth grade and third overall. They couldn’t leave it unstained, though, because they felt that non-straight or flame grain needed a little bit of help from a stain to make it look on par, so the Perfection ended up with this interesting cooler and more yellowish stain.

After Dunhill bought Charatan, one of the changes they made was to rename the line to Authentic. This actually makes dating this pipe a lot easier — this is a Dunhill-era pipe, but it was one of the Lane-era pipes that had already been manufactured and were inherited by Dunhill. This would mean that the pipe was most likely sold in 1976 or 1977, but manufactured before that.

I love the fact that this specific pipe was, in a way, one of Charatan’s last acts of “flipping Dunhill the bird”, because Dunhill actually had to sell a pipe carrying a stamp that was basically making fun of them…

Oh, this just warms my heart.

The pipes go through one final check before shipping, so if you notice any inconsistencies in the carnauba finish or smudges they will be taken care of before your pipe is shipped to you.