Everything you need to know about Ropp pipes

Among the great family of pipe makers are the Ropp pipes. If you do not yet know this manufacturer, here is a short article to introduce its particular features and its unusual pipes.

The beginnings of Ropp pipes

The first Ropp pipes were shaped in 1896. At the time cherrywood pipes were in favour, which is why Eugène Léon Ropp chose that material for his own. He set up his factory in the Doubs, at Baume-les-Dames, where he would employ more than 100 people, all of them craftsmen or master pipe makers. A little later several patents were filed, Ropp having found the key to the pipe that was most agreeable to smoke.

In the early 1900s the workshops moved to Saint-Claude, home to many great pipe-making craftsmen at the time. The point of the move was to change material and to try making briar pipes. Competition proved too strong, however, and as the cigarette gained ground among smokers, Ropp was forced to close in 1991.

Ropp pipes: towards a new era

The house of Cuty-Fort, well known for having bought Chapuis-Comoy, the maker of Chacom pipes, took over the Ropp business a few years later. The unique know-how of Ropp’s master pipe makers was, after all, recognised by everyone. Their style and their prices appealed to a good many briar smokers, while their very classic designs, of excellent manufacture, were valued by purists.

Ropp thus became a sub-brand of Chacom, but kept its distinctive style. Working from very old briar burls, Ropp makes small classic pipes with horn stems. This French know-how appeals all the more to American buyers, who are very fond of the design. Today Ropp pipes are among the best known in France and, among briar enthusiasts, around the world.