Stem Material - Mother of Pearl

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mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
Now this is a bit of a strange one. A number of stems were thrown in with a pipe I purchased. They're old and are of various styles but the ones that stand out are made of Mother of Pearl. I was told this material was experimented with in the early days, similar to amber.
Has anyone heard of this or seen similar stems? They're very small.
 

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
What do you think this material is? A veneer of the inner surface of a seashell? I remember the scene in the movie where General George Patton became irate when a reporter said his sidearms had mother of pearl handles, whereas his were made of ivory. Anyway, I wonder if this is seashell, and how durable it is.
 

shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,084
49
Las Vegas
I've seen acrylic stems meant to mimic it but only online so I can't say for sure how realistic they are.
 

mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
That's possible. These are the first of their kind that I have run across so I can't say for sure that they are definitely mother of pearl. Sure seems to be, though. They glow in a couple of the pictures that I took. One thing I do wonder is if they are for a pipe or a cigarette holder. If for a pipe, what kind of pipe would have a stem that small? I'm leaning towards a cigarette holder of some sort. I should mention that all the stems came from a pipe maker who was making pipes in the first half of the 20th century.
 
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If you tap it with your teeth and it feels like glass or stone, then it could be real. If it feels like you could dent it with your teeth if you bit down on it (like plastic) then it is made of something to look like Mother of Pearl and is not real.

Mother of pearl is made up mainly of calcium excretions from the critter that grew it. Though not rare, it would be hard to find a shell thick enough that displayed the traditional aesthetics of what we consider Mother of Pearl-looking to actually fashion a stem out of this material. This is aside from the fact a stone stem would be terribly uncomfortable to use and extremely difficult to work with. It would require a Jeweler who is well skilled in the art of lapidary to even attempt and the result would be a stem no one would want to use for fear of breaking their teeth.
This is why we don't see glass or crystal stems; no one would want them.

This all being said, the Europeans did some pretty crazy and impractical things back in the day when form and fashion were the driving forces over practicality and function.
 
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mau1

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
1,124
837
Ontario, Canada
Sandollars, I tried your tap and bite suggestion and they definitely feel like glass. In my mind they are real. And a military mount. Although at 1 inch and 13/16, it would be a pretty damn small pipe.
 
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