Pioneer Estate African Meerschaum

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danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,440
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
Gorgeous & congratulations. That stem is sick and the fumed bowl is a nice touch. ☕
Hell yeah. I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan of the fumed bowls. I admit partly because I tend to over fill my pipes and darken my rims, anyway, so the fumed part of the bowl mitigates any potential visual damage.
 

Grangerous

Lifer
Dec 8, 2020
3,251
13,104
East Coast USA
That's a beauty! I'm also a fan of the fumed bowls, especially on meers.
I’ve learned that African mined meerschaum isn’t chalky-white like Turkish. Its naturally creamy, tan or brown but shares the same smoking characteristics. It’s also denser than Turkish Meer and feels more like a polished stone. What you see is it’s natural color. I like that it’s not fragile.

Fuming is common on African Meer. African will color, as Turkish, but because of its density, it’ll take two lifetimes!

The African mines in Tanzania closed in 2008 - So African sourced meerschaum, carved in Turkey, is increasingly rare.

The fuming is great! A good smoker. First pipe I can’t harm with my Zippo!
 
Last edited:

NomadOrb

(Nomadorb)
Feb 20, 2020
1,673
13,650
SoCal
I’ve learned that African mined meerschaum isn’t chalky-white like Turkish. Its naturally creamy, tan or brown but shares the same smoking characteristics. It’s also denser than Turkish Meer and feels more like a polished stone. What you see is it’s natural color. I like that it’s not fragile.

Fuming is common on African Meer. African will color, as Turkish, but because of its density, it’ll take two lifetimes!

The African mines in Tanzania closed in 2008 - So African sourced meerschaum, carved in Turkey, is increasingly rare.

The fuming is great! A good smoker. First pipe I can’t harm with my Zippo!
Wow! Thanks for all the information, I may have to add one to the collection. I love that naturally creamy color.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,756
30,560
71
Sydney, Australia
I’m super late here but did you end up liking the African meer? I have a Turkish and am thinking about picking up an African meer.
I have a couple of Tanganyikan meers (Kiko) which I bought in the 1970s which I still smoke. Along with a few Turkish meers

I like African meers - not as "pretty" (white) as Turkish. They are also more dense and don't colour as readily. But they are more robust.

No difference in smoking quality that I can discern.
 

TheWhale13

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 12, 2021
803
3,417
Sweden
African meerschaums look fantastic. Will probably get one soon. But I don't think that they're much different at all from briar in smoking performance? Since they're supposed to be denser?