Meerschaum pipe interest

[smokinghole]

I know a lot of cigar smokers smoke pipe. I was wondering if anyone here would be interested in some Turkish meerschaum pipes? I happen to be in the right place to buy said merchandise. The meerschaum is mined or whatever not too awful far away from where I'm at. Every time I'm out walking past the shops I always see the pipes and some of them really catch my eye.

Just throwing this out there.

 

[Tegu]

I wouldn't mind getting one or two, as long as it was block, nothing too fancy, what is the price like over there?

Thanks for offering.

 

[jkorp]

I wouldn't mind getting one or two, as long as it was block, nothing too fancy, what is the price like over there?

Thanks for offering.

Me too, lmk.

 

[dpricenator]

just wondering, but how much are they? I would be looking for something understated as well.

 

[RigilKent]

same here

 

[Greg]

I want one!

 

[smokinghole]

I won't be able to run out to the shops to check on prices and take pictures this weekend. I'll be up in Ankara this weekend until middle of next week. Over next weekend though I'll go check the shops out and bring my camera with me. Ooh I can also take pics of the dude selling blatant counterfeit cubans.....

 

[RigilKent]

i would love to see those pics :yes: thanks broseph

 

[dpricenator]

Ooh I can also take pics of the dude selling blatant counterfeit cubans.....

He may not be too whipped on that Idea. of course if you bought on and aske to take a picture with him with you "first" "cuban" he might oblige. I would like to all pics you can get from a turkish marketplace.

 

[smokinghole]

The best part is he knows I already know they're all fakes. He doesn't try to sell to me anymore. I could out run him if he got mad. I'll wear my "I love bacon" tshirt lol.

 

[RigilKent]

hahaha its much funnier that he knows you know

 

[smokinghole]

Alright boys. I went and checked out the pipe shop. His prices aren't the greatest but I think I could work out a deal if I got a few of them from him. Here are the pics and these are by no means all inclusive. He has TONS of pipes but a bunch of them are gimmicky junk in my opinion. I took mostly pictures of classic designs and shapes. Some of the artistic stuff is really nice I just didn't snap shots of them. Ooh and another disclaimer I do not know what a high quality meerschaum pipe it supposed to be. Some of these have carver markings meaning someone is at least proud enough to put their name on it. The last two is the one I picked up for $50 for my troop I'm sending off early next week. The lucky bastard is headed to Panama City just in time to catch some spring break.

 

[Boppa-Wasch]

Nice. What's the Avg price for the carved one's?

 

[Tegu]

I would be interested in one lightly carved like the ones in the 3rd picture from the bottom, about how much are they running? As for quality you just want to make sure they are made from Block, not pressed meerschaum

What part of Turkey are you in? You may find some carved by a guy named Sadik Yanik, I have one from him that is very nice.

 

[RigilKent]

wow those are awesome like the simple ones but the carved ones are great too

 

[smokinghole]

Most of the lightly carved jobs were $75-$110. The bigger smooth apple(?) bowls are close to $100 as well. Like I said haggling works here so if I get 4-5 of you wanting something I can probably get a drop on the price. If anyone gets a pipe they come with a fitted case and usually at least a plastic stand if that matters at all.

Now to make sure I'm not getting ripped off and in turn ripping you guys off how am I supposed to tell if it's block or pressed? Is there a sure fire way to tell because from what I see I THINK it's block. Also I think I saw Yanik on a few of the bowls. I don't know if these are good prices or not. These Turks tend to try and pull a fast one on unknowing Americans. That's why I'm trying to get learned from you dudes.

 

[Fox]

I love those plain bents.

 

[smokinghole]

Okay so after getting the master carver's name and doing a search I was able to find the "reputable" pipes online and prices on some sites. Now if these are the carvers of the pipes in the shop then his prices are pretty good and can probably be talked down like I said. So what I will do is get the list of carver's names and if there's a specific on in the pics you are interested I have now let me know. I will find out who carved the pipe get the price and if we have multiple requests I will talk him down.

Also I can find out what pipes he has from the respective carvers here and take pics and get prices. Who knows I might make a new friend with this shop owner and get his business jump started. He used to have a site but it has since gone down.

http://www.therightpipe.com/index.cfm
This place has the carver's names and different styles many of which are probably in the store.

 

[Fox]

I did a quick search for a U.S. reference for domestic pricing comparision. This one popped up with a good inventory.

 

[Tegu]

Unfortunantly I do not think there is a great way to tell if it is block or pressed, I believe almost all the pressed meer pipes are sold in Turkey to tourists, and they are probably fine if you are just going to leave it on a shelf, but if you are going to smoke out of em Block is supposedly best. Meer you see here almost always says 100% block or something on a label on the inside of the case, I would think twice before buying from a street vendor, but that shop looks pretty nice, so all you can do is probably ask, if it is a signed pipe by one of the more reputable artists I would guess they would be more likely to work with only block, look for names like Baglan, Emin, Sevket, and Yanik, but then they could be faked also, I guess its like CCs you have to find a reputable dealer.