Advice on a pipe refurb

[MichaelM]

I've been wanting to get into pipe restoration and have been curious about rustication.  After looking for a few days I found this Pipe Maker saucer on an auction site for a pittance (see pictures below).  It looked like it would be a nice subject to practice rustication.  To my surprise, the pipe turned out to be a fairly nice piece of briar and now I'm not sure what route to take.  Overall rustication seems out because the rings are quite deep.  I thought about just rusticating the top, but that would leave an odd looking shelve at the top ring.  
From an aesthetic point of view I'm not sure there is a good answer, but I'm hoping some of the brothers here might have an idea I have not considered.  I would be happy for any suggestions, and I'll post pics when finished.
Thanks,
Mike.

 

[taharris]

You bought it to rusticate, so rusticate it rings and all.

You can do a shallow rustication and preserve the rings.

What have you got to lose?

Todd

 

[monbla256]

Since some of the slanted top surface has been broken off, I would do a blast like rustication on that suface and not worry about the solid ring below. I've seen several bulldogs done this way and they look good ! BTW, that shape has traditionally been called a Squat Bulldog.  :twisted: :twisted: 

 

[Briar Spirit]

A tight rustication whilst keeping the central ring of Briar would look awesome, have a look at something Darren on Pipechat has recently done:

http://pipechat.info/index.php?topic=7330.msg113406#msg113406

If you look at the 3rd image you will get an idea of how your Bulldog could end up looking with a darker stain on the rustication and a light stain on the central ring.

 

[MichaelM]

Thanks all. I think I will start by rusticating the top portion and leave the rings and see how it looks. I can always do more after that, and as pointed out, nothing to loose. Thanks to your feedback I'm starting to get a mental image of how it could look.
Squat bulldog....I don't know   
Mike.