Jud

Jud is the pipe signature carrying the name of Daniel Jud, a physician working in the town of Erlen, in the canton of Thurgau in northeastern Switzerland. Born in 1958, Jud's actual profession is psychiatry and psychotherapy; pipemaking has remained a side pursuit for him from the start. That said, his interest in machinery and metalwork has turned his workshop into a well-equipped precision-machining space; sources indicate he regularly spends an hour or two there each day.

The Path to Mastery

When Jud began smoking a pipe at sixteen, his first pipes were of the Italian-made Lorenzo brand. During his years as a medical student in Basel he became acquainted with the work of German and Danish masters; Karlheinz Joura and Knudsen are among the makers named as acquaintances from this period. When he mentioned the idea of carving a pipe with his own hands to his tobacconist, he was directed to Hans "Former" Nielsen, who was making Bentley pipes at the time in Kleinlützel in the Swiss Jura. Nielsen both gave him guidance on making and supplied his first briar blocks.

Jud, who began regular production in 1990, later visited Jacques Craen, owner of the Genod workshop in Saint-Claude, several times; for a long time he obtained the bulk of his block supply from there. Still, since he built the main body of his technical knowledge through his own experimentation, he is considered a largely self-taught maker.

Production and Style

Jud only felt his output was ready for the market in 2000. His pipes first found interest within a narrow circle of collectors, and the same circle also gave him access to sources for horn, exotic woods, and surface-finishing materials. His acquaintance with German maker Cornelius Mänz dates from these years as well. Annual output, according to records, ranges between sixty and seventy pipes. The briar he uses is predominantly Moroccan, Algerian, and Spanish in origin.

His interest in pressed tobaccos is also reflected in shape: a significant portion of his pipes are made with large-capacity chambers where flake-type tobaccos can settle comfortably. A nine-millimeter filter chamber can be opened on request. Surface options include plain polish, sanded matte, and rustic; the sanding applied after rustication produces distinctive texture patterns (surface finishes).

Mouthpieces are mostly worked from vulcanite rod, with the multicolored Cumberland material tried from time to time. What truly sets Jud's work apart, however, is its metalwork: titanium, stainless steel, and brass bands have become the brand's signature. Over the years a handful of shapes have become established as the workshop's recurring repertoire.

Work Beyond Pipes

His facility with metalwork has also led Jud into making tools beyond pipes. He is said to have designed a plug cutter for producing clean slices from pressed tobacco plugs, along with a household-scale tobacco press; according to accounts, these tools have made his name known independently of his pipes within German-speaking pipe circles.