PIERRE CRONJE: Masterful Crafting Behind Breathtaking Bespoke Designs

What springs to mind upon hearing the name Pierre Cronje? For most it is a blend of artisan, creative, and exclusive – an emblem of aspirational living and the type of wares to be passed along generation after generation, century after century. More than 30 years ago master maker Pierre Cronje launched a local business specialising in furniture restoration and fine reproduction pieces in the classic English style. 

His skills, care, and craftsmanship led to his establishing a reputation for a singularly innovative vision, which in turn produced a growing demand for high-quality, custom designed and hand-crafted solid wood furniture. The business expanded both locally and internationally thanks to Cronje’s unique ability to incorporate South African heritage in the kind of new designs apt to fit a contemporary lifestyle, and today, Pierre Cronje is widely recognised as synonymous with top-quality builds and design excellence.

Pierre Cronje designs straddle a huge gamut of inspiration, ideas, and idiosyncrasies: from the designs of the Cape Dutch Settlers and French Huguenots to more Shaker-style simplicity, each of these traditions is refined into unique, iconic furniture pieces. “On the opposite side of the spectrum,” continues Cronje, “sits our contemporary furniture, which borrows elements from all styles and eras, making it truly iconic.

“The end product is often a breath-taking piece of art.”

RAW BEAUTY REVEALED

“Unique design and a great respect for the raw product is what makes owning one of our furniture pieces so sought after,” sums up eponymous MD and craftsman extraordinaire Pierre Cronje, who evokes a rare passion for the importance of the root material and an equally rare appreciation of the non-perfect. “We only make solid-wood furniture and we only use quality timber – timber that I personally select.

“At Pierre Cronje we transform and reveal new beauty in form and finish, sourcing entire trees from sustainable forests and sawmills around France and Knysna. We lean towards extreme cuts and the interpretation of a design is decided upon by the stature and wane of the tree.

“Many of our bespoke French Oak, Yellowwood, Mahogany, American Walnut, and European Ash pieces display the untrimmed outer contour of the tree, simply to celebrate its raw origin.”

It is an approach that has been highly effective, and Pierre Cronje has established a very faithful clientele, both private and corporate, predominantly based in the Western Cape and a large number of wineries. Because of the cost of making the furniture, this tends to be a rather specific a clientele of some means with the ability to afford these investment pieces. “Clients often want perfection, though, but I stand by the belief that art cannot be perfected,” Cronje stresses. “There lies beauty in imperfection.”

The upshot of making by hand is that the processes and functions which underpin the creation of this fine furniture remain largely immune to the inevitable modernisation and industrialisation which comes with time and progress. “The core business and the operation as a whole remains largely unchanged, even with such a long passage of time,” Cronje tells Enterprise Africa.

“The hand-crafted furniture production process is labour-intensive and takes time, and although we have a large, highly-skilled and well-equipped factory, we are committed to never compromising on the high standards and fine quality of our work as well as our design principles and attention to detail. Equally, we are adamant that there will be no relaxing of standards or reverting to mass production.”

TRUE VOCATION

“A true dedication to craftsmanship – hand-made, escalated work set apart by quality – is integral to the Pierre Cronje philosophy. It relies on our artisans being dedicated to their materials and workmanship and continuing the Pierre Cronje tradition. As such, many of the craftsmen at Pierre Cronje’s workshop in Cape Town are apprenticed by master artisans.”

So dedicated has Pierre Cronje remained to his artisan, selective ethos that he has adopted a very unique approach to aspirations surrounding the size of his company. “Our staff count today is around 64,” he details. “five years ago we were double the current count, and this organic shrinking of our number has a lot to do with the current transition currently underway whereby my son is slowly taking over from me, and he identified that we were simply trying to chase too much work.

“Instead, we prefer to stick just to the work that we want to do, that can make a profit and allow us to drop our overheads. It has been a conscious decision to change our priorities and helped by natural attrition; we have not had to let anyone go or make anyone redundant at any stage. We find that this focus on quality over quantity in every area has made it so much easier over the years to keep the standards where we want them.

“The work that we do is very complex and highly bespoke, not the same old thing over and over where you can make one, or two, or ten in a row, each item is very individual, and our success depends very much on the extent to which we and our artisans are focussed. We have found that in taking on too much, we lose focus and then each item is less profitable.

“Basically, we make furniture because we love it – it is a passion which has been with me throughout my life, and it is primarily this that has kept us here for all these years. The integrity of our design, together with the construction and the use of only solid timbers are the distinguishing characteristics of all Pierre Cronje furniture.”

CONTINUING THE CRAFT

Asked what has changed most during his long stint in the furniture manufacturing business and Cronje answers without pause. “One of the biggest differences is that, when I started, I was part of a fairly large group of competent artisans. Over the years trends have shifted to people now wanting to be more office-based in their careers and livelihoods, and seeking higher-paid and higher-profile roles. It has become incredibly difficult to be able to keep hold of good artisans.

“Having said that, there are those who still really like woodwork. With us we have people who could easily be behind a computer but are thriving in this noble vocation. Obviously, it is only right that we in turn pay them well, to recognise their talents and also for this to remain a viable vocation.”

Fittingly, Pierre Cronje has indentured more budding craftsmen than the rest of the Western Cape furniture industry combined. “Aspiring artisans with requisite background skills in joinery, are each apprenticed to a master artisan who oversees the honing of their skills,” Cronje details.

While he has done his admirable best to resist it, even the great Pierre Cronje is powerless to the eventual effects of time’s inexorable march. Whilst his son has begun to assume some of the everyday running of the business, allowing its founder to indulge in other passions like drawing, the incredibly niche, esoteric nature of this work does not make it applicable to or even feasible for everyone, but Cronje has a plan. “We have been in discussions with a number of our top people, and it is to them that I would like to hand over the business in due course.

“They are much younger than I am, they are dedicated and incredibly skilled in production and I truly believe that they can successfully take on and take over the company in the manner that I would wish.” What is glaringly obvious when talking with Pierre Cronje is that he would only entrust everything that he has built up to those in whom he has absolute faith and confidence, but he is not quite ready to let go yet, he makes clear in parting.

“I will continue to consult with them for as long as I am physically able to, doing drawings, checking over things and giving advice, which I hope will be for many years yet. I still insist that every single product comes past me, not because I feel I must, but because this is what I love and enjoy and I only want the very best to be leaving the doors of this workshop.”