Before I went to Turkey, I read that there are different grades of meerschaum, many of which are made for tourists and not intended to smoke. I believe that's true because when I visited 4 different pipe carvers in Eskisehir, and told them I actually intended on smoking them and that I wanted good quality meers, they directed me to the best pipes. There were no signatures on the ones I did buy for myself and my friends, but they were carved by the master. A signature is somewhat of a guarantee, though, when you're not buying it directly from them.
My impression was that the better pipes were generally larger, had larger bores, and bigger tenons. The stem material was also thicker. Mine are acrylic.
There were some pre-coloured pipes, but it was done with a blow torch, not by adding some sort of colorant.
If I were to order a pipe directly from Turkey, I would order from Eskisehir, not Istanbul because that's where meerschaum is mined and you would more likely be getting it directly from the artisan. One pipe I bought for a friend broke in my luggage and I ordered directly from the store I had bought it from and there were no issues. I sent him euros in an envelope, telling him exactly which pipe I remembered seeing when I was there. Unfortunately, I no longer have his contact info. If I were to try to google pipe shops in Eskisehir, I would use the word luletasi, because that's the turkish word for meerschaum.
www.google.ca
www.altinokpipes.com
www.meerschaummarket.com
