Karlheinz Joura A Grade Smooth Panel Shank Brandy Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Few individuals have lived as interesting a life as Karlheinz Joura, and even fewer have achieved his stature within the world of pipes. Born in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, his family was relocated to Rostock, Germany, in 1946, which was incorporated into the communist-controlled East Germany in 1949. By the age of 19, Joura was a world-class diver on East Germany’s national team, as well as a ship mechanic, and when he and a group of friends decided to escape across the border to the West, it is quite fitting that they did so by water. Having stowed away on a cargo ship bound for Spain, Joura narrowly avoided capture when the ship was raided by the East German secret police, the Stasi. Thankfully, Joura arrived in Spain and, from there, moved to Bremen, where he was a teacher.

But what about pipes? They were a constant in Joura’s life. He had learned to love them from his grandfather, and one of the few things he took with him during his escape from East Germany was a Tyrolean hunter’s pipe that his grandfather had given him. Later on in life, Joura became enamored with high-grade pipes, such as those of the late Danish legend Jess Chonowitsch, but as he could not afford them, he settled on the next best thing: making his own. Owing to his background, Joura was able to build the machinery necessary to make his pipes, an approach he would later bond with the Swedish pipe pioneer Bo Nordh over. Joura’s pipes were well received and, in time, he rose to the level of recognition and acclaim of his Danish and Italian contemporaries, such as S. Bang, Lars Ivarsson, and Baldo Baldi.

I am fairly certain that Karlheinz Joura has retired from pipe making, but back when he did, his yearly output was relatively low, at fewer than pipes annually. True to the old German stereotype, he was, however, highly meticulous and precise, and very particular about the briar he used. In fact, on this latter point, and at the height of his career, Joura made a habit of indicating on each of his pipes exactly where the briar used to make them had been sourced from. This gorgeous, panel shank brandy sitter, for example, was carved from briar harvested in the south of France. It must have been an especially good harvest, considering the consistency of the straight grain running around the pipe’s bowl and the bird’s-eye on its underside, though it must be said that even the finest briar in the world is nothing without a master capable of finding the pipe inside it. Thankfully, that is exactly what Joura was.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original (slightly time-worn) bowl coating. It comes with its original leather sleeve.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.65″ / 41.91mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g