Blue Stem Blues

[BROBS]

Black one yes.
smooth no.

@litup those look good but to my eye some girly shades.

 

[BROBS]

Colors ( esp blue) look great on cobs, IMO. I had this one made, fits a variety of MM cobs.View attachment 37385

You have the hand of a much younger man. You must moisturize.

 

[marlinspike]

I have a dark green cumberland stem on a pipe stained to an English-tan shade. It looks attractive, IMO, but that's a shade that comports well with brown stains.

 

[mso489]

Some of these posted photos capture how blue stems can be done right, so they work. Most of the blue stems on pipes I'd seen did look stuck on, but now pipe makers are getting the hang of it. They can look good when well deployed.

 

[kola]

You have the hand of a much younger man. You must moisturize.

That pic is probably 15 years old, when I was a chiropractor. Before adjusting spines every customer got 10-15 minutes of soft tissue work to areas that needed it most (usually neck or low back). I used my own massage oil, a super-secret recipe with some cayenne pepper and other various herbs. So yeah it kept my hands pretty smooth. I was hoping I'd get a job as a Hand Model like George Costanza got,

 

[renfield]

Colored stems are easy to get “wrong” but sometimes it works really well. Definitely a polarizing point of preference.

A deep blue stem reminds me of the barrel of some nice fountain pens I have had in the past.

 

[petes03]

I have several colors of stems, but no blue. I’m a big fan of the light blue and tan finish, I’ve just never found the right one at the right time. Eric Heberling does some very attractive ones. I’ve been thinking about having a commission done by him. Here’s a few that he’s done that I really like.

 

[petes03]

I actually forgot that I have several Neerups with turquoise in the stems. Not solid though....