I recently purchased my 1st Meerschaum Pipe. A block merschaum in a smooth Tomato shape. This was purchased from a very well known Meerschaum seller and was made at my request.
I saw a very similar pipe that had very previously sold on the site and requested to have another made in it's likeness. I received the pipe and within minutes, noticed what looked like hairlines in a few places on both stem and bowl, clearly under the wax finish. The stem finish was also pretty rough, but I read later that this is fairly common from Meerschaum makers and something I can correct, myself.
I was concerned these may be cracks or deficiencies in the Meerschaum, so i contacted the seller immediately. Seller's response was that these were veins in the Meerschaum and very common. He indicated I should not be concerned with this. I've run 4-5 bowls through this pipe and those "veins" are already starting to color, which leads me to believe they are basically voids in the block, that are being penetrated very quickly.
Can any of you comment on whether or not voids are common in this material? I paid ~$250 for this pipe and was surprised to see this.
I saw a very similar pipe that had very previously sold on the site and requested to have another made in it's likeness. I received the pipe and within minutes, noticed what looked like hairlines in a few places on both stem and bowl, clearly under the wax finish. The stem finish was also pretty rough, but I read later that this is fairly common from Meerschaum makers and something I can correct, myself.
I was concerned these may be cracks or deficiencies in the Meerschaum, so i contacted the seller immediately. Seller's response was that these were veins in the Meerschaum and very common. He indicated I should not be concerned with this. I've run 4-5 bowls through this pipe and those "veins" are already starting to color, which leads me to believe they are basically voids in the block, that are being penetrated very quickly.
Can any of you comment on whether or not voids are common in this material? I paid ~$250 for this pipe and was surprised to see this.