Are there any Modern Pipe Makers using Amber?

[rajangan]

Please lower-case unimportant words! (Edited title)

Hey, just wondering. With all the artisan pipes out there and the fact you can easily buy amber, when I think about it, why wouldn't there be pipe makers using amber?

 

[paulfg]

cost?
I seem to remember @cosmic saying he could make a stem but it would be around 1000$ just for the material
and its fragile,Imagine nearly finishing making one and it breaks ,soon adds to the cost of the pipes covering that loss

 

[mingc]

Peterson does. Admittedly, it's not a solo artisan.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

cost?
I seem to remember @cosmic saying he could make a stem but it would be around 1000$ just for the material
and its fragile,Imagine nearly finishing making one and it breaks ,soon adds to the cost of the pipes covering that loss

I don't remember saying that, but I probably did. I say a lotta stuff. I just need to write that quote down, so that I don't undercharge for these things, ha ha.

I think most are made from reconstituted amber, which can be bent, as opposed to the gemstone quality stuff. I honestly don't have any interest in feeling my way blind through the process of making an amber stem, so.... I just up'ed the quote to $5000.

 

[kcghost]

And the stuff is a little on the fragile side.

 

[paulfg]

I don't remember saying that, but I probably did. I say a lotta stuff. I just need to write that quote down, so that I don't undercharge for these things, ha ha.

I think most are made from reconstituted amber, which can be bent, as opposed to the gemstone quality stuff. I honestly don't have any interest in feeling my way blind through the process of making an amber stem, so.... I just up'ed the quote to $5000.

there you go @cosmicfolklore .I happend to read this just a few days ago so that is why I remembered it.it was 7 years ago so yeah with inflation 5000

[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]cosmicfolklore​

Preferred Member​

• Jun 8, 2014
• Add bookmark
• #6

I have a contact at an amber mine in Poland. I visited the mine about five years ago, and there is still good rough trickling out. I can get amber and carve a stem to fit any pipe, but the cost is going to be pushing $1000. And, that is with me practically doing the labor for free.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would never want any of my pipes too have an Amber stem. They are really fragile and expensive. From what I can tell they are also hard on your teeth like acrylic is. I have seen a few pipes over the years where an artisan did use Amber. I think Todd Johnson was one of them.

 

[ashdigger]

I have quite a few pipes that have amber stems. I would never commission a pipe with an amber stem. I would go Bakelite or some kind of acrylic for the look.

The Peterson’s with amber stems are all NOS (new old stock).

 

[paulfg]

I have quite a few pipes that have amber stems. I would never commission a pipe with an amber stem. I would go Bakelite or some kind of acrylic for the look.

The Peterson’s with amber stems are all NOS (new old stock).

I have only experienced old amber stems but to me they are worse than acrylic on my teeth and i am not overly keen on acrylic.All of my old meerschaum pipes have acrylic replacements mainly due to the amber ones being broken when I bought the pipe

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think Todd Johnson was one of them.

Speaking of Todd, has anyone heard from him lately? Is he still actively making pipes?

 

[craig61a]

I have quite a few pipes that have amber stems. I would never commission a pipe with an amber stem. I would go Bakelite or some kind of acrylic for the look.

The Peterson’s with amber stems are all NOS (new old stock).

The amber itself is NOS, I doubt that the blanks are pre-shaped and mounted. So somebody would have to have the skillset for that, and I kind of doubt that they would have somebody inhouse. They probably contracted that out.

 

[craig61a]

FWIW, I can't imagine the stress of having to silver mount an amber stem... granted I don't know the ins and outs of silversmithing or making pipe mounts.

 

[danish]

I also wondered why amber stems are not more popular today on pricy artisan pipes. They really are beautiful to look at. Photos may not do them justice. The comfort of amber in itself, is not worse than acrylic but perhaps it is also due to the required thickness of the bite, due to the fragility. This is my only 'amber pipe'. If I win in the lottery and need a replacement stem, I may contact @cosmicfolklore ?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I did a search for recent pipes with amber stems, and this.... popped up. I gotta say... I'm not like really homophobic or anything, but... I would have an issue with putting that in my mouth.

 

[AroEnglish]

I did a search for recent pipes with amber stems, and this.... popped up. I gotta say... I'm not like really homophobic or anything, but... I would have an issue with putting that in my mouth.

View attachment 98560

They named it P-lip for a reason...

Peterson-lip.

 

[mingc]

I did a search for recent pipes with amber stems, and this.... popped up. I gotta say... I'm not like really homophobic or anything, but... I would have an issue with putting that in my mouth.

View attachment 98560

You're a lousy date. Hold my beer.

 

[OzPiper]

Peterson does. Admittedly, it's not a solo artisan.

From memory, those Peterson amber stems were "found" in one of their storerooms and a decision was made to utilise them. If you look those pipes, the stems look too small and completely out of proportion to the larger pipes of today.

I also believe that much of the skills pertaining to making amber stems eg bending them have been "lost"

 

[mingc]

From memory, those Peterson amber stems were "found" in one of their storerooms and a decision was made to utilise them. If you look those pipes, the stems seem too small and out of proportion to the larger pipes of today.

I also believe that much of the skills pertaining to amber stems eg bending them have been "lost"

Yes, a lot of them seem to have stems that are disproportionately too small for the pipe.

 

[mortonbriar]

I have worked with amber in a jewellery setting (pun always intended), and you REALLY have to hold back when shaping with typical lapidary wheels etc, it is so soft. It would be fun to make a stem I guess, but not so fun to make a bent one I imagine.

 

[jonasclark]

Finding amber large enough to use for a stem is very difficult today. Even then, if anyone makes new amber straight stems, they'll likely only be straight. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were, of course, people at pipe companies whose training was entirely in working with amber-- and for these experts, for every ten stems bent, something like half would shatter in the process. That was normal. The last meerschaum carver to make amber stems, the late Philippe Bargiel of France, abandoned bent amber at one point.

The only companies I know of today which occasionally use real, block amber stems (and these are antique stems repurposed) are Peterson and Sadik Yanik.