England
Great, convincing and unsmoked product of the Alfred Dunhill company.
The pipe markings are “HARDCASTLE \ SANDBLAST \ MADE IN LONDON \ ENGLAND” and “927”on the silver collar. The length is 15.5 cm, bowl’s hight is 4.6 cm. External and internal diameters of the bowl are 3.3 cm and 2.1 cm. The depth is 3.7 cm and this pipe weights 59 gr. Briar, vulcanite stem, no filter.
England, 1960s An unsmoked very high grade Charatan’s pipe from the “Second Lane era” (1965-76), the period of the brightest blossoming of this brand, delightful shapes and grains which eclipsed all others pipe makers including Dunhill. Every Charatan’s admirer knows the highest grade was the “Supreme”. Another one of the highest grades, “Selected” level was…
England There’s probably no other local so much appreciated and collected trade mark on the other side of Sea than Doctor Grabow. In despite of democratic price and positioning as a mass market product many American pipe smoker like their Grabows, smoke with please and even take pictures with the favorite pipe somewhere between American…
England, 1946-67 Recently we represented a pipe of a very similar design stamped “MADE IN LONDON \ ENGLAND” and classified it as an unmarked Hardcastle bulldog. Now we have the pipe which confirms our assumption – the same approach, similar shape, finish and even location of the stamping.
England, 1960-70s Like many other companies Hardcastle was a traditional family pipe business. In 1946 Alfred Dunhill bought the shares turning Hardcastle into a 100% Dunhill subsidiary. But until 1967 family management of the company retained a certain independence. Our today’s pipe was made for sure after 1967, when Hardcastle was completely managed and led…
USA, 1980-90s The pipe is from the T. Cristiano’s old stock. It was shaped and drilled approximately in the 1980s, but finished nowadays. Tomas Cristiano was the Italian by origin, his family emigrated to the USA in 1968 and several generations of Cristiano are involved into production and marketing of wonderful briar pipes. Thomas began…
England, 1930s A very well preserved and lightly smoked pipe from the Hardcastle’s family period (before the complete acquisition by Dunhill in the 1946). However Dunhill is already invisibly present as the major shareholder (49% of stocks), but doesn’t influence technical and commercial issues of the company. The pipe was made most likely before the WWII,…