I Did Something Painfully Stupid, But It's Turning Out Well in the End

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jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
While out on New Year's Eve, I got a rock in my shoe, sat down to get it out, then walked 20 blocks... only to realize I set my pipe down and forgot it. Which pipe? This pipe:

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WoGMXQT.jpg

This was downtown in a fairly nice area, and I'd seen few people out. The case was still in my pocket. When I got back, whoever took it cleanly snapped off the stem and left that behind! (I'll be putting out a "missing" ad just in case, by some miracle, someone has it and will accept a reward). I loved it because it was (1) antique and with a great pre-color job, (b2) had a replaced (30s plastic) stem, and (3) although a common subject (the "bedouin," so says Ben Rapaport) it was so well-carved that one could have recognized its subject in a photograph.
What do the meerschaum fans think of my replacement? Ebay had nothing I loved, Etsy had nothing, I thought it'd be a waiting game... until, looking at the Bestmeerschaums site, I found a link marked "antique pipes." Deniz Ural's private collection. And among them was this pipe, or cheroot holder? It has all three of the above qualifications, but has more, too. It is antique with pre-coloring, has a nice-looking replacement stem, but keeps its silver band, is extremely lifelike, but also comes with a newly-made case since the original was missing, has an amber finial AND an amber base to the coloring bowl, and best of all, is carved of a famous and then-well-liked person!
Thoughts, opinions?
https://bestmeerschaums.homestead.com/ANTICKaiser.html

 

timt

Lifer
Jul 19, 2018
2,844
22,729
That's a beautiful new old meer. Sorry about the other one, that sucks. Your replacement is impressive for sure. Nice find indeed!

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,068
Carmel Valley, CA
Oh, my. Sorry for your loss. But hope it will return to you. Incredible someone would take it after breaking it.
Your replacement looks very worthy!
And, this is a great reminder to not walk about with a favorite pipe at night!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Looks like a really fine pipe and likely a worthy replacement. When I travel, even just around town, I tend to take only lower end pipes. Most of my lower end pipes are equally valued. I'm a pipe smoker who can stay involved with a Kaywoodie Drinkless or a MM cob retrofitted with a Forever stem, in addition to my higher end pipes. But the less expensive pipes are, up to a point, easier to replace. And it's a funny thing, one of those ironic twists in life, that these pipes never go missing, ever. So perhaps they just have better homing instincts. It's like the difference between a beautiful hand-crafted tamper with semi-precious stones, almost destined to get lost or stolen. Whereas a pipe nail? It's your friend for life. Try to lose it. I dare you. Ha!

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
I hate to think the lost pipe is likely being used for something other than tobacco now. What a lovely pipe. The new one is fantastic as well. Lovely coloring on them both.

 

lawdawg

Lifer
Aug 25, 2016
1,792
3,801
That meer was a beauty. I hope you enjoy your replacement! I can't think of a better reason to get a new pipe :puffy:

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I wonder why the stem was broken off the pipe you lost. Maybe someone stepped on it or otherwise broke it by accident. The other possibility might be that they wanted the little sculpture but not to smoke as a pipe. Intentional breakage seems like a long shot without a logical explanation. The person likely thought it was "finders keepers," and not in terms of taking something that wasn't theirs ... perhaps.

 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,163
The new one is very, very nice. The old one, if it were mine would have broken my heart. What a shame...

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
Yes, I'm stumped as to why they broke the stem off. Next to the street is a planter bed, with a low concrete wall between the bed and sidewalk that I sat on, and a divider extended back into the bed. I left the pipe on the divider, probably 15" back from the front. The stem was a few feet along, in the planter.

 

seanv

Lifer
Mar 22, 2018
2,958
10,405
Canada
sorry for your loss. Hopefully it turns up and can be repaired
Mso- I only take cobs out into the real world when I go wondering. Aside from theft or loss my biggest problem is my cadence gets way out of control when driving and smoking and to a lesser extent even walking and smoking. For some reason when walking I feel like I have to work hard to keep it lit. Not sure why but it’s proving to be a hard habit to break.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
jonas, that's a real oddity. It sounds like they did it intentionally. Why not just screw it or pull it off? You'd think they'd have taken it along and considered the whole thing at home at their leisure. The whole behavior is bizarre. If it was like, oh boy a nifty carved pipe!, they wouldn't have broken it. I am never entirely surprised when "the public," of which i am one, do weird stuff. Displaced misplaced emotions on a rampage. Stupid, mean, and inexplicable.

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
It was probably someone sufficiently influenced by anti-tobacco propaganda to the point of seeing a tobacco pipe as an instrument of evil that had to be broken in half.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
If I'd found the pipe, I'd have left it on the planter, thinking the owner would surely come back. But I'm a pipe person. Some people will scoop up any unattended item, with some rationale that it has been abandoned -- coats, hats, umbrellas, wedding rings -- which is almost never the case.

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
The new one arrived today. The very tip of the amber finial came off (it had been glued, probably long before Deniz Ural got it) but it sure is spiffy for being at least 120 years old. The new stem and case are spiffy, a nice amber swirl stem and a burgundy case lined with brown cloth. The half meerschaum, half amber coloring bowl is nifty too. I don't think I'll try to smoke this one.

 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
It's so nice, in fact, that my two German friends each instantly knew who it was. A few others have guessed Von Bismarck, but when I say, "close, who was Von Bismarck's King?" none have got it.

 
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