MBSD Meerschaum Deluxe Blowfish Block Meerschaum Pipe, Briar-Mortise

Description

At MBSD we sell a lot of high-grade, high-quality pipes from various iconic makes, but the pipes we’re most proud of are our meerschaums. Right from the beginning, we wanted to offer the best smoking meers on the market, and to do this, we had them made with two distinct features. First, we made sure that they were made with block meerschaum that was carefully selected to be the most lightweight, pure, and porous available, meaning it would also color more quickly and evenly as it is smoked. Second, for our Deluxe meerschaums, we had the pipes made with a patented Briar-Mortise system that is closer to the stem connection on a briar pipe than a standard meerschaum. This is because, on our Deluxe models, the mortise is made from briar itself, while the tenons used are made from Delrin. This allows for more precision construction of the pipe’s draft hole, as well as a general extra durability and longevity.

While I’ve wanted to bring shapes more typical to briar pipe-making to meerschaum for a long while, one shape that’s always been a challenge has been the blowfish. It is a shape that has been a staple of artisan pipe-making since the likes of Sixten Ivarsson and his Danish progeny pioneered it in the 1960s and ’70s, and so I thought it only right to try it out in meerschaum. The thing about meerschaum, though, is that it colors over time, and it does so in a manner that is dependent on the distance between the chamber and the bowl exterior. With a blowfish, the distance between the chamber and the left and right sides of the bowl is much less than the distance between the former and its corners. So, those side panels will color faster than the corners, unlike a round shape which will color more or less uniformly. The ingenious solution my carver came up with was to apply a patina coat to the bowl exterior – a little like the African meerschaums of old – with an emphasis on those corners, to help along the coloring process and achieve a good, consistent outer glow once its owner starts putting it to use.

While some meerschaum pipes come with clamshell cases, some pipe smokers don’t find much use for them. As our Deluxe meerschaums are all fitted with an extra durable, patented Briar-Mortise system, we considered this an opportunity to offer a pipe that instead comes with a complimentary protective sleeve, and to pass the savings onto our buyers. For buyers that would like a cased pipe, please see our other listings, where we provide plenty of suitable options.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.7″ / 43.18mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g