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pipeude28

Might Stick Around
Jun 14, 2016
58
1
I am interested in purchasing a Meerschaum for the 1st time, but unsure which retailer I should buy from. I don't want it to be too expensive because I'm just starting out. Any ideas on retailers?? Thanks

 

dottiewarden

Lifer
Mar 25, 2014
3,053
57
Toronto
Check the sites sponsors.
4noggins.com

Al Pascia

CigarAndPipes.com

Cup O' Joes

Danish Pipe Shop

Lane Limited / STG

Milan Tobacconists

Missouri Meerschaum

Mkelaw-Pipes.com

Mr. Brog Pipes

Pipes2Smoke.com

PipesandCigars.com

PipeStud.com

Savinelli Pipes / Iwan Ries

SmokingPipes.com

 

andvary

Might Stick Around
Aug 29, 2016
69
0
Well, I suppose the first thing to say is avoid anything that looks even remotely "Asian" and mass-produced. China makes everything nowadays, even "meerschaum pipes", but we can only guess, what material are they actually using (pressed meerschaum, if you are lucky).

I'd personally go with AKB Meerschaum. They are an established brand from Turkey (the primary source of meerschaum nowadays), they use block meerschaum, and their range has both classical shapes and the elaborate carvings. For starters one of their cheaper offerings seems to be the optimum variant. They can be found at SmokingPipes.com, for example.

You may also try Strambach, an Austrian company. As far as I understand, they use not the naturally mined "block meerschaum", but their proprietary "cultured meerschaum", i.e. artificially grown meerschaum (or maybe it's just pressed meerschaum with European standards of manufacturing and quality control, who knows...).

Other variant for cheap meerschaum is finding an estate on Ebay, but it's always a gamble.

 

rfernand

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 2, 2015
669
39
Meerqueen roams the forums on occasion - check their stuff out.

 

jitterbugdude

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2014
993
8
Pick up a cheap one from Ebay. It'll give you a good idea of what meer is all about, even if it is pressed. If it impresses you, get yourself a high quality one from Altinok.

 

andvary

Might Stick Around
Aug 29, 2016
69
0
I forgot about Altinok Pipes. They seem to have a good reputation, plus they make a replica of Mortimer's pipe from "For A Few Dollars More", how cool is that?! :clap:

http://altinokmeerschaumpipes.com/detail.asp?product_id=FP116

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,079
Carmel Valley, CA
And you can get your own likeness carved for $650! I will do so after I complete the life size bronze statue I am planning for the front courtyard.....

 

meerqueen

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2012
221
0
Hi,

We will be adding our new "MeerQueen" collection within 10 days at www.meerschaumstore.com
Thanks

Bahadir

 

pagan

Lifer
May 6, 2016
5,963
28
West Texas
Id say PipeStud or one of the other "estate" sales, for a starter thendecide what you want to invest in. I personally don't own any pipes younger than me other than my Mr. Brog and cobs, I like estate pipes

 

friday

Might Stick Around
Aug 23, 2012
88
1
I bought an AKB from smoking pipes a few weeks ago and it smokes horribly wet! Takes 3 pipe cleaners to get through one bowl! Choose wisely. Good luck. I think I'm too scared to ever order another one. I spent $80 on this one. If I ever do order another one I'll have to spend more I guess.... I don't know.

 

shikano53

Lifer
May 26, 2015
2,060
8,084
I have an IMP and an Altinok.

My IMP is one of my best smokers. The Altinok's bowl is a tad too narrow for my liking but a quality pipe.

Check the link below. Dave Neeb is an outstanding guy and a site sponsor. I have purchased several pipes from him. He has a number of Meers that are below one hundred dollars and I don't think you can go wrong.
http://mkelaw-pipes.com/html/meerschaums.html

 

shutterbugg

Lifer
Nov 18, 2013
1,451
21
I have 5 meers. One is a WWII-era bulldog that belonged to my father. One is a carved warrior-head full-bent I bought in 1973 and don't care for much because it won't pass a pipecleaner cleanly to the bowl. Two are Amboseli (black) meers I bought recently. The fifth is a large gourd calabash that I cracked the bowl in half using the salt-alcohol method to de-stank it, then superglued it back together and I think the heat has melded it because I can no longer make out the crack anymore. All are great smokers. The modern-day meers I've seen seem to fall into two camps: cheap synthesized and/or pressed crap I wouldn't bother with, and carved ones that are both hideous esthetically and hideously overpriced.

 

andvary

Might Stick Around
Aug 29, 2016
69
0
carved ones that are both hideous aesthetically and hideously overpriced

Amen to that. They waste so much material on these, such a shame...

 

professorwheezy

Might Stick Around
Jul 3, 2013
52
0
I'm new to Meerschaum too. In my reading and research IMP and Altinook were the brands most trusted as putting out good smoking pipes. There's plenty of carvers but these were for quality smoking and can be had for under $200. As a restorer I went the estate route. The one rule I followed was buy a PUSH STEM only. That allowed me to rule out a lot of pipes as I looked online since they had screw stems. I ended up spending about $70 and got 6 meers, all good size, some carved some plain. This was accomplished in 3 different purchases. None of them are Alitnooks or IMPs that I can tell. BUT I just wanted to get an idea of what they are about before I drop $180 on an Altinook or IMP. I plan on posting pics soon. I also plan on doing some light restoring which is why I bought 6 of them in case some techniques don't work well. My biggest issue now is I need to clean/ restore them and then WAIT. I had surgery a month ago and while I am willing to take the "risks" associated with pipe smoking (I feel there is very little) everything I have read does seem to indicate smoking is not good when one is recuperating as it diminishes blood supply to damaged areas. Therefore, I have put down pipes at least for the time being. You might want to check out a video by Bremen Pipe Smoker. He has a good one on Meers.

 
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