Directory of South African Pipe Brands

Directory of South African Pipe Brands brings together, in alphabetical order, pipe names founded in South Africa or run by South African makers. The two names on record represent two separate strands: one a one-man workshop, the other a tobacconist business passed down through generations. The entries below summarize only documented facts; the records remain largely silent on founding year, production method, and model series.

Brands

• Kotzé Pipes — a workshop bearing the name of Kobus Kotzé, based in the town of Potchefstroom in North West Province. The records contain nothing beyond the maker's name and location: neither the workshop's opening year, the material used, nor a model series has been documented.

• Wesley's — the name of a Johannesburg-based chain of tobacconists. Colin Wesley opened its first shop in 1971, followed six years later by a smaller second branch in a shopping center; the retail network was built on the model of this small branch and eventually reached seven outlets. The family's ties to the tobacco and pipe trade go back much further: they began in the 1920s working at the newsagent-and-tobacconist shop John Tennison Burrows opened in Durban in 1905, a connection that lasted for decades. The shelves carry numerous foreign brands, among which the relationship with Stanwell has been the longest-lasting. Wesley's does not produce a pipe under its own name.