Coloring Progress Over Time/No of Bowls in one Meerschaum Pipe

[cshubhra]

Since I have been smoking this Altinay translucent meerschaum billiard exclusively for the last three weeks, I thought this would be a fantastic case study to track the progress over time and number of bowls. I will try to post one picture every week, which would mean one picture every 15 bowls.

First up - pictures from 20th May 2022, before I smoked the pipe for the first time. I did not take care of color balance/white balance.

 

[cshubhra]

The second picture was taken May 27th. Again not color/white balanced and it is a warmer tone since I took picture in soft white light

 

[cshubhra]

The third picture was taken on 31st May taking reading off the Meerschaum pipe at the backyard

 

[cshubhra]

The 4th picture was taken on June 3rd against a white background

 

[Bengel]

Gonna be a beauty!

 

[Chasing Embers]

If you think that's nice, wait until the meerschaum itself starts coloring. ?

 

[cshubhra]

The second picture above is after 17 bowls and the 4th picture is after 33 bowls

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I assume it can vary quite a bit pipe to pipe. I have an Altinay with somewhere around 400 plus bowls smoked. It has a modest amount of color. No big deal, it smokes my morning blends nicely.

 

[cshubhra]

Yesterday I smoked 50th bowl in it. The bowl has colored very slightly but the shank has colored a lot. This is white balanced so indicative of a true color

Also close up of the shank

 

[Chasing Embers]

I assume it can vary quite a bit pipe to pipe. I have an Altinay with somewhere around 400 plus bowls smoked. It has a modest amount of color. No big deal, it smokes my morning blends nicely.
View attachment 150468

The carved and rusticated ones take longer but are more pronounced when they do. Even though it appears to be coloring, the only true coloring on my Kenan is here.





The tans and pinks are just wax discoloring from warmth and use. Those can fade over time and can be removed completely by dipping in wax or hitting it with a heat gun.

 

[timt]

Looking good man! After a while it starts feeling like you're watching paint dry, doesn't it? My OCD tends to take over when I'm coloring meers. I smoke more and neglect my other pipes. Maybe I should consider medication or counseling.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Looking good man! After a while it starts feeling like you're watching paint dry, doesn't it? My OCD tends to take over when I'm coloring meers. I smoke more and neglect my other pipes. Maybe I should consider medication or counseling.

Other than my Oguz Simsek pipes, I'm mostly off briar opting to smoke meerschaum while the bulk of my pipes remain unused.

 

[timt]

Other than my Oguz Simsek pipes, I'm mostly off briar opting to smoke meerschaum while the bulk of my pipes remain unused.

Same here. 90% of the time I smoke 2 meers. Over the past few days I've dusted off several pipes and smoked a couple bowls in each of them, just because.

 

[OzPiper]

@cshubhra
Thanks for starting this thread.
I'll be following the progress keenly.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

Same here. 90% of the time I smoke 2 meers. Over the past few days I've dusted off several pipes and smoked a couple bowls in each of them, just because.

Our of curiosity, what made you put down the briars?

 

[NC TX ID pipeman]

Our of curiosity, what made you put down the briars?

Smoking a good quality meerschaum is something amazing...I just got me a few this year after 33 years of pipesmoking..plus experiencing the coloring of it is just interesting process..tobacco taste better and smoking is dry...I am hooked...I' ve got like 130 briars and planning to sell a lot of them and get a few more meers...

 

[timt]

Our of curiosity, what made you put down the briars?

I've just got a little obsession thing going on at the moment with coloring a couple meers. I love some of my briar pipes, cobs too, and I'll keep smoking them. So, I haven't sworn off anything. Maybe sometime in the near future I'll get sick and tired of smoking 2 meers almost exclusively, burn myself out on them and quit reaching for them. Knowing me, anything is possible.

 

[NC TX ID pipeman]

I just smoked 8th bowl out of my new IMP meer and first time I can see some slight brown coloring all around the shank all the way to the bowl...mine is not translucent pipe ..

 

[aspiring_sage]

I just smoked 8th bowl out of my new IMP meer and first time I can see some slight brown coloring all around the shank all the way to the bowl...mine is not translucent pipe ..

I have a ~new SRV meer with 8-10 bowls out of it. I haven't smoked it in two weeks, but today I noticed very very slight color around the heel. That color was definitely not there when I set it down last week.

I'm inclined to believe some of the orange could be coming from the inside out (before it is just black tar).

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm inclined to believe some of the orange could be coming from the inside out (before it is just black tar).

There actually are a couple of ways to test if it's internal coloring or if it's just discolored wax.