What did I end up with it does not look like meerschaum, ebay pipe

[rx2man]

"won" a "meerschaum pipe" on ebay. Got it today and started to clean it up. As I was wiping off the top of the bowl it started to look like it was painted and the paint was flaking off. It looks like its a clay pipe with a enamel finish? Is it worth keeping? Has a metal tenon, aluminum?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320915642957&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

 

[irishsmoker]

I hate to say it but I'm pretty sure its not a meer. The bowl looks well used but there is absolutely no coloring from the use.

 

[grizzly86]

If it were me I would be pissed that I didn't get what I payed for. If I bid on a pipe thinking it was meer I want meer. I would email the seller to make it right.

 

[locopony]

Me too. I would give him a chance to make it right. Reason three thousand two hundred and eighty six why I dont ebay.

 

[rx2man]

I assume the seller does not know what they were selling. But even the "14k gold band" is marked 14k 1/40th R.G. Thats rolled gold plate. And its 1/40th. RGP is fairly good as far as gold plating goes. But 1/40th thats about as bad as it gets. That's the part that gets me. They probably did not know its not meerschaum, but put the 14k band in there and left out the 1/40 R.G. part. Big difference and that was probably intentional. More frustrating that I got to spend $6 bucks to send something back that was not as described.

 

[mrgunnar177]

Guessing porcelain

 

[rx2man]

Well since people are actually responding and I am really curious as to what's under the paint I took pics.
http://s1079.photobucket.com/albums/w505/rx2man/
Hopefully those of you with more knowledge can help a noob out.

 

[lazydog]

I checked out this sellers other items & this was the only pipe for sale, showing me seller does not sell a lot of pipes. On ebay, if the seller does not have experience with certain products, (pipes), they shouldnt guess and make bold claims like meerschaum or 14 k gold.. Email them about the problem. I recieved a cracked pipe once filled with epoxy, advertised in very good condition. Seller refunded my money and told me to keep the pipe. They do not want any bad feedback on ebay. You got ripped and seller misrepresented the pipe/ Good luck Rx2

 

[rx2man]

Yes I assume they know jack about pipes got something at a garage sale for .50 cent and flipped it. And yes they got way too specific about something they did not know about.
The next one I got is good to go. I should have paid attention though. It's 4 in long, a lot smaller than what I was expecting but the seller was specific. Even the bowl is little. If it does not get too hot, being so thin will be a nice quicky smoke pipe though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290721949136&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

 

[lonestar]

I'm going out on a limb to say it is meerschaum.

I looked at the first pics from ebay, and the deep scratch in the bottom of the bowl made me think meerschaum, but the color is way too bright white. Clay will "chip" instead of gouging like a softer material.

Looking at your pics, I'm fairly certain this is African block meerschaum. The finish is almost always painted on these pipes(in this case white). Also the metal tenon is consistent with African Meerschaum pipes, and the stem is consistent with a meerschaum but you usually see that style on Turkish Meerschaums.

 

[rx2man]

I would agree with you but this looks very similar. Herbinedave said porcelain so I looked for them. Now I will look for African Meerschaum. Seller will refund everything, already got the reply. Really just want to know what I am looking at is all. I realise the Dutch one looks about the same......as a noob they all look the same and I am still learing about a ok pipe and a great pipe.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNSMOKED-Dutch-DELFT-PORCELAIN-Pipe-BEAUTIFUL-L90-/251080788571?_trksid=m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8981711286422443874&_qi=RTM1084480

 

[billinsfl]

The pipe appears to be some sort of glazed clay or porcelain. Not a bad looking pipe, and it appears it didn't cost you a lot of money. You might want to keep it, and see how it smokes. For what the pipe cost, it's hardly worth the effort to send it back. Try it, you might like it.

 

[lonestar]

I've restored a lot of Porcelain and African Meerschaum pipes. I'm 99% sure this is not porcelain and 98% sure it is African Meerschaum.

If it was porcelain, the material underneath the paint would also be white. African meerschaum ranges from grey to pale yellow to light brown to off white, sometimes all in one pipe. This is why they are painted and not stained, there is no consistency to the color or density of the block.

A simple test would be if you can scrape it with a knife. Either the end of the shank where it will be covered by the stem, or around the rim of the bowl where it wont be seen when the tar builds up.

A porcelain or clay pipe is too hard to scrape or make an indention in. African meer is a lot harder than Turkish meer, but it will still be easily carved with a knife. Dont cut any big notches into it or anything, just scrape enough to see how soft it is. A knife will slide right off of porcelain, but will dig into meerschaum.

 

[rx2man]

Well that's why I came asking, looking for an answer. No need to scrape it anymore. All the off white across the top is me scraping it with my fingernail "cleaning" it up. I noticed that the material under the "white paint" was a little soft. Guess I got what I purchased and learned more about meerschaum in the process.

 

[topd]

I agree with lonestar... African Meerschaum. African is much harder and heaver than Turkish and doesn't color as well, but I don't think it's porcelain or clay.

 

[rx2man]

billinsf, I decided to try it out and seems like a nice enough smoker. I am fast puffer at times and it did not get too hot. And as you said not worth the hassle of going to the P.O. Thanks to all those who cleared up what I picked up.

 

[rx2man]

Storient, no worries, if I was not interested in feedback I would not have dropped in. Its obvious that its not in pristine condition and not exactly as described. But cant really whine too much as I did not blow a lot. If I had known that there was finish on it, I probably would not have been as aggresive cleaning it. And yes there is no coloring on the outside and will not be with the finish on it. But it looks better with a bowl smoked out of it!!!! And was well used so someone liked smoking out of it.

 

[lonestar]

People who like them love them. Its tougher stuff then Turkish, so doesnt need to be handled with too much care, and has all the benefits of smoking cool and dry. Typically the African Meers with a brand name on them sell used for $40+ so you didnt do bad price wise.