I recently managed to acquire a collection of 8 stunning Charatans, mostly Reuben’s Era and high grades — Special and Executive. No matter how much I want to keep them all, I just can’t, and I will have to part with at least one or two, starting with this beautiful straight Panel.

Most Charatan collectors focus mainly on pipes from the Lane Era, and even though those are incredible pipes too, there is just something extra special about acquiring a true family-era pipe… With how impossible Frederick-era Charatans are to find, Reuben pipes are some of my absolute favourite pipes to collect, smoke, look at, or even just hold in my hands.

Now about the Special grade — this is probably the grade stamp you will see the most in my personal collection, and for a good reason. For one, it is the first unstained / natural-stain grade with a somewhat reasonable price tag.

Now for the second reason… you see, there are two types of Special-grade Charatans.

One would be a pipe that got graded pretty early on in its production and was deemed to be a perfect match for the “Special”. Those were mostly either stunning cross grains or weaker straight and flame grains, and would be hand turned into a catalog shape by some of the more experienced employees. Keeping in mind Charatan’s brutal quality standards, you end up with a pipe superior to almost anything else on the market.

The second type of Special is where it gets interesting…

If a block looked especially promising, it would get picked up by the top carvers at Charatan to start its journey as a very high-grade freehand pipe. During this process, the carver would decide what specific grade the pipe would end up as, and sometimes a Distinction or even an Executive could end up as a very special “Special” for some reason.

I say “for some reason” because, to this day, I still can’t figure out exactly what some of those reasons were… I keep seeing examples of pipes that look like they should be way higher grade, and that is one of the biggest reasons for my love of Charatans.

Seeing that there isn’t a standard catalog shape like this one, this is most likely one of those Type 2 Specials.

Some brands, like Dunhill, will occasionally stamp a mediocre pipe as something greater, but with Charatan you often get the exact opposite — they had true high standards, higher even than what their critics had…

Last but not least, I just want to guide your attention to how elegantly Charatan did paneled pipes. There are no sharp edges that make the pipe look like an unfinished block of briar or a DIY project — everything is softened and refined, while still keeping that unmistakable panel shape.

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.