what is your latest pipe purchase

[NeverBend]

The seller called this a Ben Wade Reject although it doesn't appear to branded. I'll be better able to tell more precisely what this pipe is when I see it in hand but it's definitely a Charatan handmade pipe. If it's branded then it probably dates from the early 1960s, soon after Lane acquired Ben Wade. If it's not branded (Ben Wade) then it's probably a little older (1950-1962) but I'll need to see the work to the bit and button to (hopefully) be more precise in dating it.

In their earlier history, Charatan (pre and early Lane era) made exclusively handmade bowls in smooth finishes. To my knowledge, Charatan discontinued selling Rejects sometime in the 1960s and began to, partially or completely, sandblast or rusticate (most) of the former Rejects and sold them as either lower end Charatan Handmade models (still costly) and as the Ben Wade Handmade series. Some City deLuxe pipes that I’ve seen are Charatan smooth handmade 2nds but I don’t know if this was a brand that they owned but by shaping they appear to be mid to later Lane era (late 1960s into the 1970s).

These Reject pipes were made from the same exceptional briar as Charatan firsts and are 2nds only because of naturally occurring blemish(es). James Upshall followed the same culture as pre-Lane Charatan in making only smooth firsts and their eponymous Tilshead (2nds) pipes. I coined the Upshall motto as an homage, The Tradition Continues...

The seller had three of these pipes, (Ben Wade) Rejects but I found them only minutes before the auction closed. My apologies because I would have mentioned them on the forum. I paid $19.97 + $4.54 shipping. I would have bought all three (one other sold for the same price) if they were billiards. I assume the marks on the bowl to be scratches, perhaps some dilwit etched around a flaw. The rim is in excellent shape and the wall thickness and this pipes mass (given the era that it was made) insure that it was handmade.

I'll post about these pipes and the seller in my ongoing eBay commentary thread in more detail.