France, 1970-80s We have already featured many pipe makers on our website who came to the art of pipe-making from what were, at times, completely unexpected fields of human endeavour — engineers, diplomats, and military personnel. French welder Jean Masson took up woodworking in his thirties; in 1971, he took over the Jules Guichon pipe…
France It’s unlikely we’ll tell you a long story about this pipe, other than to say that it’s a solid and attractive piece crafted by the artisans of one of France’s leading pipe-making workshops. Butz-Choquin currently uses the name Toulouse quite frequently, though their shape number 451 is more or less a classic bent, while…
France Imagine a monastery, isolated from the world somewhere deep in the mountains or in a forest. Time passes, yet old books and ancient ceremonies are preserved here, and a language no longer spoken in the outside world still resonates within these walls. Similarly, the Genod brand represents a separate and very old branch of…
France Zino Davidoff, renowned for his luxury cigar business, expanded his product range to include pipes in 1974. Since then, the Davidoff pipe collection has remained largely unchanged, offering the same 14 shapes in three finishes. It appears that only the contractors have changed over time. Originally, the primary supplier of Davidoff pipes was the…
France, 2000-2010s This is a relatively recent and cleverly designed pipe from one of France’s most renowned brands. The bowl is made of acrylic with a briar insert, while the mouthpiece is traditionally crafted from ebonite. This combination is an innovative approach, opening up exciting possibilities for creating pipes from unexpected materials. Given the design…
France, 1930s Even if we do not know the exact year this pipe was made, based on its markings and historical context, we can reasonably place it at the very end of the 1930s or, at the latest, 1940. The year 1940 was tragic for France. The country attempted to resist the German invasion but…
France Throughout its one hundred and twenty-year history, ROPP has been the undisputed leader not only in France but also worldwide when it comes to cherrywood pipes. This success might have been all there was to it if not for the collaboration with Adolf Frankau (BBB), which prompted the family manufactory in Burgundy to begin…
France, 1920-30s It is rare to find a pipe marked BRUYERE GARANTIE that can be described as anything more specific than indicating it was made from genuine briar circa the 1920s-30s. The slightly unclear AIWON inscription and the even less legible MADE IN FRANCE suggest that it was manufactured by the French company La Bruyère,…
France “Maitre Pipier” is not a brand solely owned by a particular manufacturer; instead, it serves as a distinguished appellation utilized by renowned French artisans and manufacturers like Butz-Choquin, Chacom, Ropp, Jean Chretin, Jean Lacroix, and others. They employ this prestigious marking to showcase their most captivating and finest pipes, epitomizing their exceptional craftsmanship. The…
France Genod is in fact a separate and very old branch of the French Comoy’s tradition that remained in St Claude while the company was migrated, sold to a new owner, and merged. The oldest French Comoy’s workshop was named Comoy-David and only in the 1970s it was renamed to Genod. Pipe markings “Genod \…