Edward's

Edward's is one of the rare pipe brands whose name is written into the history of two countries at once. Its molds and first pipes were born in France's pipe capital, Saint-Claude, and a few years later the brand carried both its machinery and its raw-material stock across the Atlantic, sustaining itself within American pipe making ever since.

The French Period and the Algerian Connection

Records indicate the brand got its start in 1958, bringing pipes made in France to America. In those years, the workshops of Saint-Claude had easy access to the era's most reputable briar burls, thanks to trade ties built with colonial-era Algeria. Algerian briar, prized for its tight, light structure, had long served as the benchmark material for pipe making; Dunhill's turn to this source for its Bruyere and Shell lines in the late 1910s is one indicator of that standing.

As Algeria entered its path to independence, this supply chain was shaken. Before the disruption began, Edward's bought out the equipment of the French firm it had been working with and shipped its entire briar stock to America as a single lot. Records also indicate that from 1963 production moved to Tampa, Florida, and continued using this stockpiled briar. The name of the French firm that was bought out does not appear clearly in sources. Early examples made in France are distinguished from the later American production by the "FRANCE" stamp on the mouthpiece; on the shank, alongside the brand name, appears the phrase "Algerian Briar" and a shape number.