Charatan Rodate

Frederick Charatan began producing meerschaum pipes in 1863 and enjoyed immediate success. This led him to start producing briar pipes, which would bring him worldwide fame. Charatan was the first to create a pipe entirely by hand from a single block of briar, including the mouthpiece. This set him apart from all the others, who turned the bowl and used pre-moulded mouthpieces. As the leading British manufacturer, from 1908 to 1910, Dunhill bought his pipes at an exorbitant price to resell them in its own shop. This was because Charatan was considered the undisputed number one. Ruben Charatan succeeded his father in 1910 and subsequently, in 1963 or 1964, the company passed to Herman G. Lane, with whom he had collaborated for years as a distributor for the United States. In 1978, Charatan finally came under the control of Dunhill, which closed the Prescot Street factory four years later. From this point, the brand’s reputation and prestige began to decline.