"New" meers vs old style

[mcglyph]

Hello. I'm new to meers. The ones in my collection are from an NEX seller. This usually means they are trustworthy and sell quality merch. Comparing the pipes I have, the ones on the sellers site, and Altinok or some of the others, they look like different things. The Altinok stuff is super detailed, almost gaudy, the Meerschaum doesn't look the same either. The pipes I have are nice, tastefully detailed, not a spot out of place. The prices are about the same however. Perhaps I ask a silly question. Is there a different breed of carver than say a few years ago? Are the new carvers, the internet carvers doing a different style than others? Any assistance is welcome as I intend on collecting more pipes in the future, and would like to know what exactly I'm getting.
Bryan

 

[tbradsim1]

GigI I really would like to see that Mikoti.

 

[tbradsim1]

Gig, my wife knows my pipes only cost 50$, would love and hate to see her face if she found out about a 20k pipe. Man oh Man. :laughat:

 

[mcglyph]

Hey thanks everyone. So the pipes I'm seeing some of which are quite different from mine, are smooth type?

This is the seller's site. https://www.sultanpipes.com/
Am I right in that they look quite different? Perhaps I'm just new. Thanks again.

 

[bruce74]

I have been buying Meers now for many years and in my experience and opinion the difference between old meers and new is in general the modern carvers are better. I'll just duck under this table for a couple of minutes whilst the brandy glasses fly in my direction. So ok there were some very fine carvers with artistic flare from yesteryear but there are many more today with better skills and adventurous art coupled withodern style. Also the classic shapes are more accurate and better conceived. The push tenon is a great improvement but could still be better. The mouthpieces in general are still lagging behind and need to be improved as well but that is also slowly happening. The instances of disreputable dealers has drastically dropped with most online dealers being some of the leaders in customer service in the pipe industry in my experience. I have found that I've had most of my troubles eith the famous sellers carvers as they now feel that customer service is not needed and that reasonable prices are directly linked with notoriety.

 

[bruce74]

As for the stone quality it is more often than not exceptional today with pressed meer all but disappearing. Also now with buyer protection quality assurance is a must. After dealing with the turkish people for a while now I have developed a soft spot for them. They are, in najority, open, honest,artistic, friendly and kind. If course there are bad apples but who can't say that about their own countrymen as well.