Meerschaum Sure Colors Weirdly

[xmacro]

Had this Fikri Baki dragonclaw for a few years now (shoutout to Rich at Briarville for the great new stem - when the original broke, he made a fantastic replacement).
Super weird coloring, the deep brown stops in weird places while moving along others. Just the fun of chasing the white goddess, I suppose

 

[jpmcwjr]

Original to you?

Could it be partially pre-colored?

 

[warren]

Not weird at all. It's a natural mineral, coloring is totally dependent on the mineral's construction.

 

[karam]

Well it's colouring more where vapors from smoking the pipe are concentrated. If you think about it, it's harder for the residues and oils absorbed to crawl up to the tentacles on the left side of the egg as a lot more meerschaum needs to get saturated, and you're pulling the smoke, vapors etc to the opposite side. It will happen eventually but likely very slowly.

 

[OzPiper]

Not sure what you mean
Looks to be colouring quite normally to me.

Each pipe, being made of a natural substance is unique, and can't be expected to colour in a set pattern.

 

[jerry]

Every meerschaum is unique, and there are MANY factors that contribute to the coloring process.

 

[scloyd]

I'm certainly not a meerschaum expert, I own one that I seldom smoke. It seems to me the darkest brown is the bottom of the chamber where dottle, moisture builds up soaking into the meerschaum.

You more experienced smokers...am I wrong?

It is cool looking.

 

[xmacro]

Original to you?

Could it be partially pre-colored?

Yup, bought it brand new

 

[jpmcwjr]

So, not pre-colored? Do you hold it where it's blackest?

 

[anotherbob]

really reminds of the cutty meer pipes those two weirdos here own, you know the ones with the buttons usually from dead bozos (hey they're dead and even if they weren't, they'd think the internet was witchcraft).

 

[xmacro]

So, not pre-colored? Do you hold it where it's blackest?

Nope, usually hold it by the two talons on the side which are still white. No buttons, filters, or anything else in the bowl.
Maybe it's my imagination, but I think it started coloring slightly faster after a few gurgling bowls of slightly wet tobacco in the past month? Hard to say, TBH

 

[cigrmaster]

I don't find the fascination of taking a beautiful white pipe and then turning into a shit brown color.

 

[alwayslit]

I don't find the fascination of taking a beautiful white pipe and then turning into a shit brown color.

LOL, when you frame it in that light the color change wouldn't be that appealing.

 

[xmacro]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I see it as a golden brown turning to shiny black. Perfect for a dragon's claw, but I guess some people just don't like the color brown

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

All pipes darken with time with the possible exception of black stained pipes. Not sure how it would be possible to maintain a lily white pipe that color. I enjoy watching the coloring progression and I really like the members posting different examples.

 

[jhowell]

This one has colored strangely...

 

[condorlover1]

really reminds of the cutty meer pipes those two weirdos here own, you know the ones with the buttons usually from dead bozos (hey they're dead and even if they weren't, they'd think the internet was witchcraft).

I resemble that comment thank you very much!!

 

[simong]

I really wish the dodgy Turks would go back to oxblooding the lower halves of their Meershaum Pipes. Save all this frantic hair pulling & anal obsession with members trying to get a bit of colour to their pipes. Perhaps @condorlover1 has an idea why it went out of fashion? I'm guessing it was common practice up until the 1920's or so?
An 'Ox Blooded' example.

 

[timt]

Save all this frantic hair pulling & anal obsession with members trying to get a bit of colour to their pipes.

Haha, I can't argue with that. I've detoxed myself and put my meers away, at least for now, while smoking worthless cobs as penance.

 

[condorlover1]

@simong: You know I could be wrong but that might not be an Ox Blood job you've got there but example of tobacco coloring and the use of a button/coin/restrictor. I have a couple of pipes that have gone that sort of 'Sh*t Brown' or turd color scheme just through me smoking them. I have posted before and after pictures on here before but we have to be careful since I don't want you sawing a perfectly good 'cutty' in half to win an argument.