CHARATAN’S Make Special 260X
England, 1960s
The pipe seems to came from the very beginning of the Lane era (early 1960s) and very probably made of family period briar: the stamping is already in line with Lane standards, but such the dublin shape and such kind of briar are more typical for earlier, Reuben Charatan’s period. Nice and collectable sample from old good English pipe making times!
The pipe markings are “(L)”, “CHARATAN’S MAKE \ LONDON. ENGLAND \ SPECIAL”, “260X”. The length is 14.2 cm (5.59″), bowl’s height is 4.8 cm (1.89″). External diameter of the bowl is 3.6 cm (1.42″), internal diameter is 2.1 cm (0.83″). The depth is 4.0 cm (1.57″) and this pipe weights 36 gr. Briar, acrylic stem (very probably a replacement one, but it’s very well and stylish made), no filter.
I have a Charatan Belvedere Zulu stamped
260 V. What does the V signify?
I purchased the pipe in Sydney, Australia in 1968.
Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi Joe,
Could it be a worn out “X”? Lane era Charatan’s pipes (made between 1960 and 1976, I believe yours is one of them) had usually either “Double Comfort” stems (like here https://vkpipes.com/pipeline/charatans-make-executive-2/) or saddle stems. In the second case shape numbers were followed with the “X”.