I've always said that I'd rather be too naive than too cynical, but after coming within a bristle of purchasing a wholesome looking mass produced glorified children's toy of a pipe, my faith in the honest 'ma and pa' from a land afar was being stretched worse than my monthly budget.
I wanted a meerschaum. I have a gorgeous Ascorti briar that's leagues above the rest of my loadout but I just had to know what it was all about. Having snapped up a bargain on a small African meer pipe and finding it to be a nice little 'take home to mother' type deal, I wanted that top shelf back room Turkish Delight...am I speaking English here?
I found a few sellers on Etsy based in Turkey and set my heart on this pipe as shown:
Price was £120 ($155) with custom fit hard case, £109 ($140) without. I love the stem/mouthpiece - most are chunky, gaudy and cheap looking, and if it's going to be cheap, the least it can do is not look it. Upon request, I was given the following specs:
Pipe length: 160 mm
Pipe height: 66 mm
Bowl width: 52 mm
Chamber width: 19 mm
Chamber depth: 48 mm
l was sold. I know the more prudent among us here will rightly recommend these fine sites where you can see exactly who's carved the pipe and really be assured of what you're getting. I don't have the money for those sites. I'd have even less money if I took a chance and got burned, so I really started to sweat after I'd made the deal.
See, the seller explained he was having trouble with his PayPal and asked if I could do a direct bank transfer, and I went ahead and did it before realising I was probably waiving my buyer protection by trading outside the site's marketplace. I also noticed that the listing was never taken down despite being betrothed to me...and that the bank account was in a different name to the one the seller was going by...and that he only had five sales to his name(s).
But you've read the title so you know it all worked out. Once I got that tracking number, I knew I was at least receiving a lump of coal, and just over a week later it reached me here in England from Turkey with no customs charges, safely in one piece snug within its case:
Which admittedly looks like my old nan's glasses case, and she left this world 23 years ago, but it's what's inside that counts.
That's the one from the picture alright, and it looks and feels great. Upon receiving my small African meer, I'd posted here asking what it should smell like, because industrial varnish almost certainly wasn't it; indeed that one was a lot nicer once I'd soaked it overnight to rid it of whatever blasphemy it had been coated in.
This, conversely, smelled like nothing but blank neutral virgin clay. Well except the inside of the bowl that smelled suspiciously like paint - that unfortunately overwhelmed when test drawing, and the brushed sides of the bowl suggested perhaps some sort of coating? Then again whatever tool was used to carve/scrape the bowl from the clay might leave a similar brushed/raked effect.
The only other flaws or possible concerns that jumped out were the slightly chipped clay of the shank face..
And the rather gaping draught hole, I mean we're talking sleeve of wizard here but it's a bit of a trench.
But lo, my faith was rewarded as it smokes like a dream. It's second only to my Ascorti, and it bloody wants to be for costing over a oner, but I was braced for the function to really fall short of the form. I crumpled up some flake and packed it quite firmly but with enough spring to let it expand and flow - to my relief it was a fantastic smoke.
If it weren't for the painty/clay-y taste, which I'm inclined to suspect is normal for a maiden voyage, it would be a near perfect smoke. I know I'll have to be careful with the screw-in tenon but besides that, all's well and so long as nothing sinister unfurls, I'm really happy with the £120 ($155) pricetag. It's light overall but has a satisfying weight to the husky chamber, which is intricately designed without being unwieldy or veering more into the sculpture than pipe territory.
I don't doubt that there are more exquisite artisans out there who will carve bespoke beauties on commission, and high end manufacturers like Peterson who'll offer their heavenly standards at an equally hard to reach price, but this really lands that Goldilocks spot for me and so I'll gladly share the seller's Etsy shop. The name was David Bell when I was exchanging messages, then a Turkish name on the bank account, now it's Nikolina Rosenova Mincheva - but if that, or the fact that my pipe is still listed, doesn't scare you off, by all means have a little faith.
And I'll see you in five weeks when it turns out it was just rock candy and Titanium White.
www.etsy.com
Thanks for reading, skimming, or at least just looking at the pictures.
-LDL
I wanted a meerschaum. I have a gorgeous Ascorti briar that's leagues above the rest of my loadout but I just had to know what it was all about. Having snapped up a bargain on a small African meer pipe and finding it to be a nice little 'take home to mother' type deal, I wanted that top shelf back room Turkish Delight...am I speaking English here?
I found a few sellers on Etsy based in Turkey and set my heart on this pipe as shown:
Price was £120 ($155) with custom fit hard case, £109 ($140) without. I love the stem/mouthpiece - most are chunky, gaudy and cheap looking, and if it's going to be cheap, the least it can do is not look it. Upon request, I was given the following specs:
Pipe length: 160 mm
Pipe height: 66 mm
Bowl width: 52 mm
Chamber width: 19 mm
Chamber depth: 48 mm
l was sold. I know the more prudent among us here will rightly recommend these fine sites where you can see exactly who's carved the pipe and really be assured of what you're getting. I don't have the money for those sites. I'd have even less money if I took a chance and got burned, so I really started to sweat after I'd made the deal.
See, the seller explained he was having trouble with his PayPal and asked if I could do a direct bank transfer, and I went ahead and did it before realising I was probably waiving my buyer protection by trading outside the site's marketplace. I also noticed that the listing was never taken down despite being betrothed to me...and that the bank account was in a different name to the one the seller was going by...and that he only had five sales to his name(s).
But you've read the title so you know it all worked out. Once I got that tracking number, I knew I was at least receiving a lump of coal, and just over a week later it reached me here in England from Turkey with no customs charges, safely in one piece snug within its case:
Which admittedly looks like my old nan's glasses case, and she left this world 23 years ago, but it's what's inside that counts.
That's the one from the picture alright, and it looks and feels great. Upon receiving my small African meer, I'd posted here asking what it should smell like, because industrial varnish almost certainly wasn't it; indeed that one was a lot nicer once I'd soaked it overnight to rid it of whatever blasphemy it had been coated in.
This, conversely, smelled like nothing but blank neutral virgin clay. Well except the inside of the bowl that smelled suspiciously like paint - that unfortunately overwhelmed when test drawing, and the brushed sides of the bowl suggested perhaps some sort of coating? Then again whatever tool was used to carve/scrape the bowl from the clay might leave a similar brushed/raked effect.
The only other flaws or possible concerns that jumped out were the slightly chipped clay of the shank face..
And the rather gaping draught hole, I mean we're talking sleeve of wizard here but it's a bit of a trench.
But lo, my faith was rewarded as it smokes like a dream. It's second only to my Ascorti, and it bloody wants to be for costing over a oner, but I was braced for the function to really fall short of the form. I crumpled up some flake and packed it quite firmly but with enough spring to let it expand and flow - to my relief it was a fantastic smoke.
If it weren't for the painty/clay-y taste, which I'm inclined to suspect is normal for a maiden voyage, it would be a near perfect smoke. I know I'll have to be careful with the screw-in tenon but besides that, all's well and so long as nothing sinister unfurls, I'm really happy with the £120 ($155) pricetag. It's light overall but has a satisfying weight to the husky chamber, which is intricately designed without being unwieldy or veering more into the sculpture than pipe territory.
I don't doubt that there are more exquisite artisans out there who will carve bespoke beauties on commission, and high end manufacturers like Peterson who'll offer their heavenly standards at an equally hard to reach price, but this really lands that Goldilocks spot for me and so I'll gladly share the seller's Etsy shop. The name was David Bell when I was exchanging messages, then a Turkish name on the bank account, now it's Nikolina Rosenova Mincheva - but if that, or the fact that my pipe is still listed, doesn't scare you off, by all means have a little faith.
And I'll see you in five weeks when it turns out it was just rock candy and Titanium White.
Turmeermar - Etsy UK
Shop Turmeermar Block Meerschaum Pipe CraftsmanshipTurkey by Turmeermar. Top shop for gifts. A buyer bought a gift from this shop and gave it a 5-star review!.
www.etsy.com
Thanks for reading, skimming, or at least just looking at the pictures.
-LDL
