Edward's Pipes

Edward's Pipes is the brand under which Edward Czerny produces handmade pipes under his own name in the city of Villach, in Austria's southern Carinthia state. Behind it stands neither a factory nor a team; the brand is a typical example of workshops that work from a single person's bench, producing in limited numbers and largely to order.

Founding the Workshop

According to Czerny's own account, the venture began with a desire to make his own pipe after buying a handmade Danish one; the shape tradition of such pipes is discussed in the entry on the Danish School. By the same account, he sought guidance from an experienced maker in December 2002 and began building his bench around this time. As there is no independent trade registration or official website, the founding date is not certain.

Czerny has stated that in the foundations of the craft he saw support from Austrian maker Peter Matzhold, and from Raimund Holzer in sourcing tools. The most concrete difficulty for a small-scale workshop is finding a source that will sell material in small quantities. Reportedly, briar came from the Mediterranean basin, acrylic from London, Cumberland rod from Switzerland, and the carnauba wax used in polishing from Austria's Styria state. This shows that even a one-man bench relies on a supply network spanning several countries.