Deal and a half?

[Imagine]

I was at a flea market today and I picked up a brand new eligantly carved meerschaum pipe w/ case for 20 bucks.

Is it just me or was this way underpriced?

 

[Adonis_cigars]

Did the case have a CAO sticker on the inside?. If not, might not be a real Meershuam

 

[Brickhouse]

Well, it depends on the quality/size/detail and such. Any photos?

CAO isn't the only Meerschaum makers though, there's all kinds to my knowledge.

 

[Imagine]

The case does not say CAO, however I found the pipe on the CAO website, or at least one that's strikingly similar. All the woman knew about it was that it was hand carved in germany, and that her husband bought it a few years ago

Here are some pictures...hope they work.

file://localhost/private/var/tmp/folders.504/TemporaryItems/com.apple.PhotoBooth-T0x%2313B2A3/Photo%202.jpg

file://localhost/private/var/tmp/folders.504/TemporaryItems/com.apple.PhotoBooth-T0x%2313B2A7/Photo%203.jpg

file://localhost/private/var/tmp/folders.504/TemporaryItems/com.apple.PhotoBooth-T0x%2313B2AA/Photo%205.jpg

 

[BlankTim]

The German's aren't espcially known for carving Mer pipes, but that's not to say there aren't carvers doing it.
There's lots of companies making Merschaum pipes. As usual some are better at it than others.

The big difference to look for is Block Carved versus Pressed Merschaum.

Block is carved from a solid block of Mer, Pressed is Mer dust poured in a mold like plaster of paris or cermaic clay.

Block carved= :thumbs:
Pressed=

Pressed aren't *bad* pipes, but they can be a lot more delicate and tend to have more issues that effect smoke quality. They're generally a good bit less expensive though than Block carved.

Depending on how old yours is, it could go either way. I've seen Block carved Mer estate pipes at garage sales for hella cheap, and I've seen brand spank-me-new pressed ones for lots more.

Smoke it, if you enjoy it then it was a good deal either way. :thumbs: