Briars Colour Too. Before and After Photos.

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jarit

Can't Leave
Jul 2, 2013
333
4
I don't photograph my pipes much, but if anyone's interested here's a couple of photos of the same pipe, first unsmoked on the day I got it, and after about two years of smoking. Probably four to six bowls per month.
We all have seen how meers take colour nicely when smoked, but does anyone else have before/after shots of their briars?
Klo71NE.jpg

ZWxCtFz.jpg


 
Jan 4, 2015
1,858
11
Massachusetts
You would be surprised just how much a pipe will lighten up when you clean the surface. The oils from your hand are drawn out by the warmth of the pipe, deposited on the pipe's surface and they attract and hold all manner of things. Those contaminates become imbedded in the wax finish darkening it over time. A light buffing with white diamond can remove most of it but that done with any regularity and you usually loose your nomenclature as well.

 

bcharles123

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 18, 2014
236
1
Anyone ever buy an unfinished pipe with the intent of developing a patina? Hand oil or otherwise?
We're you happy with the results?

 

jkrug

Lifer
Jan 23, 2015
2,867
8
That's a real good looking pipe there, before and after darkening. That's quite normal and many of my pipes have darkened over time from being held. :puffy:

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
bcharles', at the expense of repeating myself, I am a huge fan of unfinished pipes and think that "finishing" an unfinished pipe by smoking it is one of the great pleasures of pipe smoking. I am currently working on recent purchases of unfinished Savenellis, including a billiard panel and a 920 Dublin, but I have two thirty year (plus) unfinished Savs now smoked to a golden walnut color. I like patina on any pipe. To me, with some pipes, even a little char on the brim is a good thing rather than damage. Nothing gives a prince a little macho re-do like a bit of char. In a sense, the wear on a pipe is its badge of honor and proof of use. With any pipe, but especially unfinished, after the usual cleaning, I polish the entire pipe -- bowl, shank, and stem -- after every smoke. I try to do it immediately while the pipe is still warm. I also wipe out the bowls with a paper napkin or towel, to avoid cake, keeping the carbon layer to a thin coating. I don't own a reamer. Patina is a a plus, a good thing.

 

framitz

Can't Leave
Oct 25, 2013
314
0
I have several including smooth and blasted they color nicely. I bought some prettier virgins in 1967 that look like hey were stained. Shel

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
Anyone ever buy an unfinished pipe with the intent of developing a patina? Hand oil or otherwise?
We're you happy with the results?
I bought several when I first started 50 years ago. I used nose oil a lot, and they all darkened and developed a nice patina. One fine day I will photograph all my pipes and post appropriately. (There was a 40 year period where the pipes were unused and stored away from light).
Also, I had a Comoy from way back that I rarely smoked, and I didn't like the light color, so applied one coat of olive oil and it darkened up immediately.

 

bcharles123

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 18, 2014
236
1
I guess I know what my next pipe needs to be!
This may be the start of a specialization....

 

phil67

Lifer
Dec 14, 2013
2,052
7
Of course they do, skin oils, dirt and grime, sun light, air, humidity, etc. all add to the patina.
Yep, that's about it and not the same as how a meerschaum changes color over time. It will happen more quickly to a pipe that is simply waxed, which never lasts all that long, (the wax, not the pipe!) as to one that has a coat of shellac. A meerschaum, due to it's porous nature, draws moisture and tobacco tar into the material.

 
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