I’m such a leather tongued old pipe addict I don’t own a single light tan unsmoked Algerian briar pipe to illustrate the color of a new one.
Here is how they came new:
![IMG_5487.jpeg IMG_5487.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260253-ad325846e33de28e5655f6777b736d59.jpg)
I love how the more I smoke a Marxman (or any other Pre 54 Algerian briar pipe) the darker and more reddish brown they get.
![IMG_5484.jpeg IMG_5484.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260256-30d8cc8599023afd945a0a9cdc6f6055.jpg)
![IMG_5486.jpeg IMG_5486.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260257-32005ab38a449c90496428245a1747be.jpg)
It may be that all of the coloring is external, from oil on your hands, or from the atmosphere. I know they’ll soak up grapeseed oil like a sponge, and darken from it.
But they’ll also color, I swear, while I smoke one. At the end of smoking a fresh Marxman it’s a visible shade darker, and all over the stummel , not just where I handle it. The more I smoke one the darker they get, until they are nearly black.
I don’t own any, but in the day Kaywoodie used to advertise tan Algerian pipes. Dunhill used to stain and sandblast his Shell pipes made of Algerian. I think most buyers of ten dollar Flame Grain Kaywoodies when a Yello Bole was a dollar and a basket pipe was fifty cents didn’t prefer a new pipe turning color like a cast iron skillet. Some did prefer a quick darkening pipe, or else Bob Marx would not have had a twenty year run of it.
Whatever the reason Algerian briar colors so quickly, I get all warm inside when I find one that’s very well seasoned.
![IMG_5480.jpeg IMG_5480.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260268-590a08eddf11c5d828a59a2222a198c7.jpg)
Here is how they came new:
![IMG_5487.jpeg IMG_5487.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260253-ad325846e33de28e5655f6777b736d59.jpg)
I love how the more I smoke a Marxman (or any other Pre 54 Algerian briar pipe) the darker and more reddish brown they get.
![IMG_5484.jpeg IMG_5484.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260256-30d8cc8599023afd945a0a9cdc6f6055.jpg)
![IMG_5486.jpeg IMG_5486.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260257-32005ab38a449c90496428245a1747be.jpg)
It may be that all of the coloring is external, from oil on your hands, or from the atmosphere. I know they’ll soak up grapeseed oil like a sponge, and darken from it.
But they’ll also color, I swear, while I smoke one. At the end of smoking a fresh Marxman it’s a visible shade darker, and all over the stummel , not just where I handle it. The more I smoke one the darker they get, until they are nearly black.
I don’t own any, but in the day Kaywoodie used to advertise tan Algerian pipes. Dunhill used to stain and sandblast his Shell pipes made of Algerian. I think most buyers of ten dollar Flame Grain Kaywoodies when a Yello Bole was a dollar and a basket pipe was fifty cents didn’t prefer a new pipe turning color like a cast iron skillet. Some did prefer a quick darkening pipe, or else Bob Marx would not have had a twenty year run of it.
Whatever the reason Algerian briar colors so quickly, I get all warm inside when I find one that’s very well seasoned.
![IMG_5480.jpeg IMG_5480.jpeg](https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/data/attachments/260/260268-590a08eddf11c5d828a59a2222a198c7.jpg)