Jirsa
Jirsa is a Czech Republic brand owned by the family company headed by the artisan Oldrich Jirsa. They use Ebonite and cumberland stems. Best Grading: SG (Grain), three stars. Symbol: stylized J coming out of an oval.[1]
Sysop Note: Apparently Jirsa no longer uses Ebonite and Cumberland as reported above, but now makes there stems in house using a proprietary, food-safe plastic mixture, which is reported to be very bite-friendly and somewhat softer than acrylic.
The following is an excerpt from a blog post written by Christian Probst for Cigar World:
Jirsa pipes from the Czech Republic may have been known to some pipe smokers for several years. The pipe smokers who already know this brand value it for its excellent price-performance ratio, interesting shapes and good workmanship.
Olda Jirsa, the company owner, writes about his company on his website :
I have been making pipes since 1994. We are a small workshop and we have always strived for pipes with the intention of "making good pottery rather than expensive china". A lot has happened over the years. We have moved three times and faced various crises, both privately and professionally. The world of pipes has changed, small pipe shops are disappearing and everything is shifting to the internet and social networks. The world is changing and new technologies are influencing more and more aspects of our lives, but we want to stick to traditional craftsmanship as much as possible. We use a modern CNC milling machine for standard production, but each tube is still more than 80% handcrafted. Most pipes are produced in small series, but a small part is personally and entirely handcrafted by me. But in any case, all pipes are made with an interest in them, and also in you.
Olda Jirsa
What can still be said is that although Jirsa is a small manufacturer, the manufacturing processes are very modern and economical. Some specialists speak of the most modern workshop equipment in a European pipe manufactory. This has a positive effect on the precision. Holes sit, transitions are right - perfect function.
Also worth mentioning is the in-house mouthpiece production, which gives Jirsa additional flexibility in shaping the pipes. Neither acrylic nor ebonite is used here, but a proprietary, food-safe plastic mixture is used, which is very bite-friendly and somewhat softer than acrylic.
As usual for a Central European manufacturer, they almost exclusively use pipes with a 9mm filter hole, which mostly suits German pipe smokers.
The design language and style are also very characteristic, a unique "handwriting" is clear. Especially bulldog variants of Jirsa have numerous lovers and fans. The fact that small, light-colored acrylic applications are often used between the stem and the mouthpiece is another very attractive detail that makes a Jirsa pipe recognizable as such at first glance.
If you take a look at our Jirsa range, you will see that we currently have predominantly rusticated pipes in the shop. The reason for this is simple - we can only upload the pipes one at a time, but smooth pipes will follow in a timely manner!
Among other things, there will also be very beautiful, light-colored pipes made of great wood quality.
So look forward to absolutely “cheap” pipes in the literal sense, which are worth trying out!
Gallery
Smooth Calabash, courtesy SmokingPipes.com
Partially Rusticated Calabash, courtesy SmokingPipes.com
Contact Information
Oldrich Jirsa U mlýna 28 27062 Rynholec Czech Republic Phone & Fax: +42 0313 573266 E-mail: info@jirsa.cz Website: http://www.jirsa.cz
References
- ↑ From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes