By Al Jones

This is another pipe that belongs to a fellow PipesMagazine.com forum member, that I was asked to restore.

With help from Pipepedia, I date this Charatan to the Reubens era (1910-1960) because of the “CP” stem stamp and it lacks:

• Double-Comfort stem
• “L” Lane stamp
• No “Made by Hand” (which was used starting in 1958)
• No X or DC on the nomenclature

According to Pipedia, the Belvedere is one of the four ” Apprentice” grades for Charatan. From their webpage:

Charatan’s make “Apprenticeship” standard shape grades

• Special
• Relief Grain (tan)
• Relief Grain (dark)
• Belvedere
• Perfection

Courtesy Pipedia

The pipe was in great shape, some bowl top build up and an oxidized stem. The CP stem logo was faded, and very light, I knew that was going to be challenging. The briar had some dents and dings. The nomenclature was excellent. The pipe arrived in this condition:

To remove the briar dents and dings, I steamed most out with a wet towel and an electric iron on high to generate some steam. I used some 320 grit paper in the bowl to remove the very light cake. The bowl was soaked with sea salt and alcohol. Following the soak, I cleaned the bowl top with 8000 grade micromesh, followed by 2000 grade wet paper. The bowl was then buffed with White Diamond and several coats of carnuba wax.

The stem stamp presented a challenge. I removed the initial layer of oxidation, except around the logo. This looked unacceptable to me and the pipes owner.

I suggested that I could try to repaint the stem stamp with white acrylic polish, and hope it protected the logo enough to save it. I used 600,800, 1500 and 2000 grade paper to remove the oxidation, working carefully around the stem stamp. I used some wet Magic Eraser around the logo and was successfully able to salvage the logo and remove the majority of the oxidation. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond rouge and Meguiars Plastic polish.

Below is the finished pipe: