BROKIS
4 5
TRadITIOn
PRESERVING
THE BOHEMIAN
GLASSBLOWING
TRADITION
BROKIS is the brainchild of successful Czech
entrepreneur Jan Rabell. In 2006, he founded
the brand as a platform to revitalize and elevate
Bohemian glassmaking to new heights and preserve
generations of knowledge and craftsmanship. nearly
ten years prior, in 1997, he acquired the ailing Janštejn
Glassworks, which was established at the start
of the 19th century approximately 140 kilometres
southeast of Prague. demand for traditional products
had declined significantly, many of the glassmakers
were growing old and leaving, and time-honoured
technologies and techniques were at risk of being
lost. Mr. Rabell’s vision was to restore the factory
to its former prestige and ensure that the ages-
old Bohemian glassmaking tradition endured into
the 21st century.
With BROKIS, Jan Rabell created a lighting brand
offering entirely different products than those previ-
ously produced at Janštejn Glassworks. Several new
Italian-style furnaces were built, and production
techniques were refined. Some, such as grinding
and glass painting, were discontinued, and others
were revived, like glassblowing using optic moulds
and traditional hotshop techniques. Original and
nearly forgotten formulas for manufacturing coloured
glass were reinstated and are now characteristic of
the BROKIS brand.
BROKIS has firmly established itself as a leading
innovator in glass lighting. For example, the complex
technology applied in manufacturing the night Birds
collection, which consists of imposing yet elegant
curved glass silhouettes of birds in various phases
of flight, required two years of experimentation
to perfect.
BROKIS is constantly developing new technologies
for its lights in order to offer consistent industry-
leading quality and innovation throughout its global
product portfolio, such as with a special original con-
nector, the sustainable material called BROKISGLaSS,
and TRIMLESS, a sleek new system for hanging pen-
dant lights from lowered drywall ceilings.
BROKIS also maintains a strong online presence
through a series of innovative initiatives, such as
BROKIS VIRTUaL PROJECTS and the unique MyBrokis
application. In January of 2022, BROKIS launched
a website within Janštejn Glass Group (JGG).
Today, BROKIS and Janštejn Glassworks employ more
than 100 people and enjoy a unique symbiosis that
has allowed BROKIS to establish sales operations in
120 countries and regularly showcase its renowned
lighting collections at the world’s top design shows.