Old RyJ box "Regalia Reina Extrafina"

[Puros Y Vino]

Go figure. On the 50 cab thread, I mentioned the "Cajon" which I always saw associated with a 100 count box. Alex chimed in with some well needed clarification.  This past Saturday, I wandered into an antique shop which tends to have the odd cigar box. This one immediately caught my eye.

About the size of a Trinidad Fundadore 24ct box. A quick search on CCW pulled no results for "Regalia Reina Extrafina".

I can't pinpoint if the Warranty seal is the 1912 - 1931 or the 1931 to 1961 version.

There is no bottom stamp or "Made in Havana or Hecho in Cuba". Just the "Claro" one I've seen from boxes in the 1960's/70's era.

Though blurred, the wording next to the cigar name is Belascoaín No 2A which refers to the factory's address. Calle Belascoaín No 2A(between Concordia and Vertudes) The address doesn't seem to exist any longer.

Top of box.

Front face of box;

Closeup on Warranty Seal

Side of box

Bottom of box

Other side of box with RyJ label

Opened box.

A search for this cigar has mentions as far back as 1891 but the Warranty seal is far younger. (The entry below is from 1897). So this cigar is definitely Pre-Embargo.  One catch though. The Cigar on the box is  "Regalia Reina Extrafina" the charts lists a  "Regalia Reina Flor fina" (which is on the side box). The "extrafina" name does exist under H Upmann though.

Other references to cigar under different marcas.

 

So, what are people's thoughts on this?

• Legit?  Box does look old and sure smells it.  But the seal is odd from a timeline point of view.
• Errata?  Something mislabeled over time?  Other?
• Fake? Would this be worth faking?  It's probably easy to fake Pre-Embargo boxes that aren't too fancy and given the lack of references/records, it's to the counterfeiters' advantage.

[Fugu]

Interesting find. And certainly an old box. The brand/firm and factory were seated from 1904/05 at Belascoain 2A. Up to approximately 1940 when it changed to Padre Varela 152. The warranty seal is a pre-1931 seal (without the addition of text “Cuban Government’s Warranty For…”). So based on that alone, would date it between ca 1912 and 1930.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the labelling with Flor fina or extra fina, that’s marketing “drivel”. The format should be Regalia Reina.

[ATGroom]

In the Great Habanos Factories book (page 147) there is an 1880 Romeo Factory price list that has the Regalia Reina Extrafina, along with Regalia Britanica, Regalia Comme il faut, Regalia de la Emperatriz, Regalia de la Reina, Regalia de Londres, Regalia Excepcional, Regalia Favorita, Regalia Preciosa, and Regalia Victoria Especial. Regalia Novia and Regalia Predilecta appear in other catalogues from around the same era.

I don't see any reason to say it's not a genuine box and the cigar was in production until the 1920s or so.
 

 

[Fugu]

Ah, well spotted, Alex! According to that I have to correct my assumption about the vitola. While qualifiers, such as ‘superior’, ‘flor’, ‘flor fina’ denote a difference in leaf quality for identical formats, the name ‘Regalia Reina Extrafina’ appears to be indeed the full name of the cigar (vitola de salida), and obviously a widely used standard format of the time, also by other producers.

So Frank’s box is showing the Regalia Reina Extrafina, flor fina.

[Puros Y Vino]

Excellent insights gents!  Learned a lot with this. I think I'll have to actually buy this box ASAP. 

[teamrandr]

Looks very similar to one I recently acquired.  This one dates to 1945.  Did you buy it?