A nice pair

[Idlefellow]

Charley Scanlan's Mark Twain meerschaum prompted me to seek out one for myself; I found a nice one, and in the process stumbled across this Sherlock Holmes meerschaum so, well, I just had to get both!

So now I need a few tips on coloring. I've only had one meerschaum previous, a bird dog with pheasant in mouth that a chum brought me back from Turkey. It never colored particularly well. Now I admit I didn't smoke it every day, but I did put quite a few bowls through it and it never did much. So, any suggestions (other than "smoke the heck out of them!")?

 

[Charley Scanlan]

I've never placed my pair next to one another, they're definitely not identical.

The coloring I've gotten is all in the shank:

Thanks for sharing your Mark Twain, and Sherlock Holmes!

 

[Idlefellow]

So which one's Mark and which one's Sam ?

 

[Charley Scanlan]

So which one's Mark and which one's Sam ?

Facing them, Mark is on the right, Sam is on the left. I was kind of mad at my dad for getting me a pipe I already had, it was my favorite and somehow he must have seen me smoking it, this is how I got over it

 

[thedeep]

Usually, when you hear "a nice pair" there is a woman involved.

 

[WarneOut]

I don't know if this face exactly calls to mind my personal image of Sherlock Holmes -- but I'd bet it would be a darn fine smoker.

https://www.altinaypipes.com/shop/bamboo-sherlock-holmes-meerschaum-pipe/

 

[Charley Scanlan]

I had my eye on a nice looking Sherlock Holmes from Paykok:

I'm quite happy with a meer I bought from them, a burnt Arasta with a pink stem, so this one might be a good smoker.

 

[Haebar]

I had my eye on a nice looking Sherlock Holmes from Paykok:
View attachment 9242
I'm quite happy with a meer I bought from them, a burnt Arasta with a pink stem, so this one might be a good smoker.

That is an exceptional Sherlock pipe! Most of the ones I've seen lately are not very realistic.

 

[Volkditty]

So, any suggestions (other than "smoke the heck out of them!")?

Mostly just smoke the heck out of them. I read some advice somewhere once to smoke a new meerschaum upwards of 3-4 times a day for two weeks straight, then let it sit untouched for a couple weeks to "bed in" before going on to smoke it as normal. I tried that and can say it maybe resulted in a little quicker coloration than the meerschaum I just smoked as part of my regular rotation, but nothing dramatic.

You could also try using a meerschaum coloring bowl, but that seems like a lot of hassle.