I Want A Meerschaum

[undecagon]

For the past few years, a friend and I have given each other pipes every year for our Birthdays. Well, I have wanted a meer for awhile, and decided this year, I'd get two in December, one for him on his Birthday, and one for someone to buy from me and give to me on Christmas (and if I can't convince anyone, I'll wrap it and give it to myself!).
My mind was entirely made up on Sunday with the Hell on Wheels premier. He and I spent a long time drooling over and discussing Bohannon's new meerschaum that he took from the dead guy's mouth. We agreed that it is the ideal shape. Looks like a good sitter, has a nice sized bowl, we liked the bend....it was just perfect!
I tried to upload a short YouTube so you could see this well, but it wasn't working, so here's a screenshot:

Now...in my search, I found this Altinok. It seems just right. Also, although super high (the main reason I'm not sure if any of this will work!), the price seems to be reasonable for a meer. Even after the $20 up charge for the black acrylic stem. However, I've done a lot of searching around and have a good mind to buy from Fikri Baki. But, he doesn't have that perfect shape ready to go on his site. Also, even though it says I can click on any pipe picture to see a detail page with more pics, size, and price...the detail pages seem to only include more pics. After more clicking, I found a couple that actually included the details, and they were all $250 +10 for shipping. I would assume he would have no problem doing a custom carving if I sent him some pictures and drawings, but does any one have any thought or idea as to how long that would take? And I guess it's probably a safe bet that a custom piece will be higher than the others at 250....
And lastly, my fall back plan. If I can't get that perfect sitter that we both really liked, I'll probably pick out two AND meers, because they are much more affordable. That does make me a little wary, though...what do you all know about these guys?
Thanks.
::

 

[roadqueen]

Well, I don't know if you've looked at the Meerqueen store or not, but they have this one: null
Then if you feel like getting fancy, they have one of these: http://www.meerschaumstore.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CL117
I looked through only the classic shapes that they offer, seems that they have quite the selection.

 

[jerry]

I have has nothing but positive experiences buying meerschaum pipes from Altinok and Deniz Ural, the fellow who sells Mr. Baki's pipes.

 

[undecagon]

I did look at MeerschaumStore.com - because they are a sponsor - but all I found was RoadQueen's first suggestion, which doesn't have enough of a bend for my liking. I did, however, recently see they have a "Design Your Own" Section, so I will probably send them an email to see what they can do for me. That being said...all three are still in the running. I'd be really swell to get input from anyone who owns 2/3 or 3/3 from MeerschaumStore, Altinok, and Baki.

 

[meerqueen]

Hi Undecagon,
Please send us an email to support at meerschaumstore.com about your project then we would be happy to make your dream real
Regards,

B.B

 

[locopony]

Meerschaum is some of the best smoking pipe material ever discovered. I use to smoke meer pipes far more than briar. Not so much anymore. They get scratched up far to easy , and they are too nice for me to bang up. You should do exactly as you plan you will not regret it.

 

[sfsteves]

dunno whether I had a bad meerschaum or what, but for me, a meerschaum produced a sort of "dusty" taste to the smoke which I found objectionable ... never did enjoy the one I had and I ended up giving it away.