A Russian who arrives in England from Austria opens a workshop in London, hires employees, expands, acquires important clients, then leaves the firm to his son who succeeds in maintaining the firm’s excellent reputation. Following the bombing, business picks up again thanks to a German from America who buys the firm, alters the way it is run, and then sells it. The new, prestigious owner transfers the whole activity, sells off the brand, but then later repurchases it. Seen in this light, the history of such a glorious brand as Charatan seems to be somewhat reduced, but this is a brief description of what happens to most firms, with their ups and downs, changes, good and bad surprises, urgencies and emergencies, and in the meantime never forgetting the client’s needs. In this case the client only thinks of choosing a fine pipe to smoke, but when and if the client’s smoking equipment turns into a collection, this is no longer enough. The collection of models gradually increases, and the client wishes to examine them in more detail, seeking to determine date and location of production. However, in order to do this there must be some sort of reference that may be consulted, which the companies, unfortunately, cannot always supply. This is because the ancient archives have frequently been destroyed by fires and other disasters, or else have been neglected or abandoned altogether. However, collectors are a tenacious breed: they build up networks, exchange information, turn into catalogue hunters, library and internet bookworms, pipe archaeologists who are able to describe a model through such minute details hardly perceptible to most smokers...read more
