Mesmerizing to look at. If it's malleable enough, I'm sure someone could construct a stem from that. It would certainly make the pipe unique and probably valuable.
Green Amber?
- Thread starter Winnipeger
- Start date
So, my conclusion, (or theory anyway), based on the book quoted by @mawnansmiff here, is that pipe stems were never produced using raw amber, but were always made out of a manufactured product obtained from melting down natural amber and pressing it into slabs. This makes sense. It's still natural amber and presumably wouldn't need to have binders added to it, but it would be much more uniform, and amenable to carving, drilling, etc, and larger pieces could be obtained at a much lower price. I could never figure out how pipe stems could be made from amber because in its natural state, intact pieces big enough to fashion a stem out of must be fairly rare and quite expensive. I'm just guessing. Maybe there were high end pipes fitted with raw amber stems for purely aesthetic reasons, but I think the raw stuff would have be reserved for making jewelry and it's probably more brittle than the manufactured slabs, which would have been more uniform, without the natural fractures and inclusions you see in the raw stuff.
So again, I'm guessing, but the reason you never see green amber pipe stems is probably because the green stuff is less common and it was un-economic to make slabs out of it. If you got a bunch of small, loose chips and unusable pieces left over from jewellers, or from the mine, the bulk of it would be orange-yellow. Also, pipe makers were probably less concerned with producing bespoke pieces than they are nowadays, and were using amber as a stem material because it was available in bulk from Prussia, and was durable enough to serve its intended purpose.
Maybe as pipe smokers, if we want to show our love and support for the Ukraine. We should ask of all pipe carvers/companies out there to purchase Amber from the Ukraine to make stems out of for pipes.
I read this online;
Ukraine has large amber deposits. An estimated 150 tonnes of amber worth almost half a billion US dollars are extracted there annually.
I read this online;
Ukraine has large amber deposits. An estimated 150 tonnes of amber worth almost half a billion US dollars are extracted there annually.
Yanik still uses them from time to time.Bring back amber stems!
JFYI: most of amber (like 99.99%) sold in Baltic states nowadays actually comes from Polissia, Ukraine.
I have a few amber stem pipes. Two of them , wich are gold guielded bulldogs , have a funny taste on the stem. They smell like pine , eucaliptus , mint wich i dislike. That makes me think that they are not real amber. Other real amber pipes i have do not smell like that. The smell is on the stem, not the shank or bowl. I have smoked them with other stems and they are OK. Makes me think that many counterfeit amber pipes where made.
It is confusing, but amber used as incense is just a fragrance name, not a real geological substance.
What is Amber Resin? Or what is Amber Incense?
Amber Resin is delightfully aromatic intoxicating the senses with it's rich scent. Popular fragrances include Golden Amber, Dark Amber and Celestial Amber.
soulniche.com
Piney scent when warmed is a sign of real amber, maybe the non-smelly ones are fake.
Yes , but the smell and taste is extremely strong even when not warmed , like cough medicine , not like the ones of real amber.
Yes. But natural amber does burn:
"Burning test: Amber burns a black smoke and does not melt. It will burn away like incense. After heating natural amber diffuses the specific delicate fragrance of pinetree resins."
Link: http://upg-bulletin-se.ro/old_site/archive/2006-2/3. Raducanu.pdf
I knew that. I am GIA certified... but you had mentioned incense. So... my bad.
I don't think I could smoke a pipe with a green stem. At home our every day glasses are a set of plastic of different colors. I go out of my way to avoid using a green one to drink milk. 
I don't think I could smoke a pipe with a green stem. At home our every day glasses are a set of plastic of different colors. I go out of my way to avoid using a green one to drink milk.
Depends on the shade of green, probably. Love this one:
I have an old pipe with an amber stem, no taste, and in the range of feel like acrylic stems.
