Will Meerschaum End one Day?
- Thread starter Sharp_tungsten
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Man, that IS some good tobacco you are smoking!
that's it. I think the title is what does Cosmics backyard look like.
??????????that's it. I think the title is what does Cosmics backyard look like.
Mining any kind of resource is totally dependent on the economics, the profit. Many closed iron mines sit with flooded shafts and chambers but could be pumped out in a few weeks if the price and transportation for that particular type and grade of ore became profitable. If meerschaum demanded a higher price or sold at higher volume, I think other veins would be available to mine, if it were profitable. It is not if they exist, but if they can be mined at a profit.
Probably the doom-sayers are looking at a limited market, and thinking that they can't keep mining the present veins at the current demand.
Probably the doom-sayers are looking at a limited market, and thinking that they can't keep mining the present veins at the current demand.
Yes, that'll be the end. But if we last 1/100th of the estimated several billion years till Nova, I will be amazed. (But also long dead, I hope.)
From what I understand, the biggest threat to the meerschaum market is the Chinese. 20 years ago a lot of the worlds meerschaum would end up in the states. As China's economy grows, the demand for meerschaum is starting to exceed the United States. From what I've been told, Chinese companies are buying up a lot of the raw mined meerschaum, and paying Turkish carvers to carve / produce pipes. If Turkish Meerschaum sellers were able to sell directly into the Chinese market, we'd see a lot less here in the states.
Long-term, I'm told there will be meerschaum. The price is gonna be what changes, and already has.
You can get a better deal on a new vintage meer than you can a new meer.
Long-term, I'm told there will be meerschaum. The price is gonna be what changes, and already has.
You can get a better deal on a new vintage meer than you can a new meer.
I agree. Last month I watched a gorgeous unsmoked CAO bent apple lattice c.a. 1975 with original fitted case hammer on a Sunday night eBay auction for just $79! Today I spotted this beauty lurking under a vintage lattice listing with no mention of its carver. It's an early unsigned (but used) Eyup Sabri floral sold under the CAO label around 1976 to 1979 with a Buy It Now of $85 but willing to take offers. I would say though that nice unsmoked vintage meers are becoming noticeably harder to find.
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Great read. I'd barely gotten started when I encountered THIS:
"Let’s go back in time over a hundred years ago to 1907. Turkey, like today, controlled the worlds purest and best meerschaum which was used for pipes, and as a natural insulator for heat, cold, and electricity."
A few months ago I mentioned in a post here that meerschaum is an excellent thermal insulator, and was roundly criticized by quite a few members on this forum for having my facts exactly backwards (since "everyone knows" that meerschaum is a great conductor of heat). Some even questioned if I'd ever smoked a meerschaum while holding the bowl in my hand.
I presented some thermal conductivity values for various materials that backed up my statement but scientific evidence didn't seem to sway anyone into accepting my premise, that meerschaum is an excellent thermal (and electrical) insulator. Now here it is again, stated concisely: "..... a natural insulator for heat, cold and electricity".
“The trouble with the world is not that people know too little; it's that they know so many things that just aren't so. ” ― Mark Twain