Stefanou Pipex

Stefanou Pipex is a family workshop operating in the town of Lygourio in Greece's Argolis region, a few kilometers from the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. Its pipes carry the stamp "PIPEX." Since pipe making in Greece is mostly built on one-man benches, Pipex, with more than forty years of uninterrupted production and a regular model line, stands out as an unusual example within the country.

A Family Workshop

The business was founded in 1981 by Georgios Stefanou. In later years the founder brought his sons Alexandros and Stavros into the workshop as well; the brothers now run production together with their father. The workshop has remained in the same family's hands since its founding, and its scale has been kept small. The brand name arises from the family surname being paired with the "PIPEX" stamp struck on the pipes; in some sources the business is also referred to as "G. Stefanou and Sons." Lygourio, where the workshop is located, is a small settlement in inland Argolis, on the road leading to the ancient theatre.

Years Spent in Canada

Stefanou's introduction to the craft came not in Greece but in Canada. From 1968 to 1980 he worked for the Canadian manufacturer Brigham, and over these twelve years took part at different stages of the assembly line. This gave him the chance to observe how a mass-production factory worked, from the selection of the burl to the final polish. When he returned to his country in 1981, the system he set up carried the mark of this experience: even though production remained at workshop scale, its stages were tied to a fixed sequence.

Material and Production

Local briar is used as the raw material. According to the workshop's own account, burls come from the Arta, Evia, and Olympia regions; Greece is one of the countries in the Mediterranean basin where briar grows. After cutting and curing, the burls go through a series of processes, with final finishing done by hand. For the general flow of these stages, see the how a pipe is made entry.

Production runs through numbered model molds; the shapes are mostly close to classic English and French molds. In Greek retailers' product listings, most Pipex pipes appear as models accepting a 9 mm filter, a size common in Central and Southern Europe. The same listings show both smooth polished and sandblasted surfaces, and both vulcanite and acrylic mouthpieces (stems); how the workshop labels this distinction has not been confirmed by an independent source.

Its Place Within Greek Pipe Making

The workshop's reputation is closely tied to its location; for those visiting the Epidaurus area, Lygourio is one of the rare stops where pipe production can be seen. Products are distributed within Greece, and reach abroad to a limited extent.

Stefanou Pipex, together with names such as Constantinos Zissis and D. Mostras, is considered part of the narrow but continuous line of Greek pipe making.