Genod

Genod is the brand name adopted in 1970 by a workshop that has operated continuously in the French town of Saint-Claude since 1865. The name is relatively new; the lathes behind it, and the hand habits carried through them, reach back to the first generation of briar pipemaking. For this reason, Genod is known less for the pipes it produces than for its unbroken continuity of a manufacturing tradition.

The Workshop's Chain of Succession

Records indicate the workshop was founded in 1865 by a member of the family later known in London under the name Comoy's of London; shortly afterward it merged with a partner named David, taking the name Comoy-David. In 1923 the business passed to Georges Vincent and began to be known as Vincent-Genod. From 1939 Vincent worked with his son-in-law John Craen, who took charge of the workshop's technical side.

The third generation entered the picture in 1959, when Jacques Craen joined the workshop. Known as "Jacky," Craen took over Société Vincent-Genod in 1970 and introduced the Genod brand that same year; some accounts say the name was formalized a few years later, in 1974. After taking over the entire business in 1977, Craen opened a shop in the town center, on Place de l'Abbaye, and began offering guided visits to the workshop. This second decision is counted among the early examples of tying Saint-Claude's pipe production to tourism.

The Sébastien Beaud Era

Young pipemaker Sébastien Beaud, according to records, began working in Craen's workshop in 2006 and learned the trade directly at the bench. Echoing Craen's own beginning, he first took charge of the Viou brand, and the entire business passed to him in subsequent years. The guided-visit arrangement was also carried on under Beaud.

Beaud's name began to be heard in American pipe circles after 2011. This attention played a part in expanding the range of shapes and sizes offered under the Genod name.

Production Style

The workshop works with a small staff; production stays at hand scale. A significant portion of the lathes were inherited from the earlier generation and are arranged according to the classic Saint-Claude division of labor: opening the bowl, turning bowl and shank, drilling the smoke channel, fitting the stem, and final finishing are all separate operations. It is largely this sequential arrangement itself that is shown to visitors.

The shape repertoire draws on the classic forms of briar pipes settled by the late 19th century; because the town's mold tradition predates the later spread of English designs, this repertoire is considered old. Old-style details such as horn or briar stems are also preserved as part of the tradition. Genod's place is that of a direct heir to the Saint-Claude order established after the briar revolution.