Pipes

Cano A. Ozgener, a Turkish native with a Master's Degree in mechanical engineering, happened across some imperfect meerschaum pipes in his late twenties. Unsatisfied with the quality, he decided to improve them in his spare time. He changed the stemwork, made modifications to the engineering, and began to build relationships with some of the most prominent Turkish carvers to improve the overall quality of the pieces. Soon B&M tobacconists caught on. They'd never seen such quality in a Turkish-made meerschaum pipe on the U.S. market. It changed everything.

As Cano's brand, CAO Meerschaum, gained popularity, so did the meerschaum pipe. The movement continued to grow, not only as a direct result of Cano's eye for quality and technical expertise, but largely because of the work of one extremely talented Turkish artisan: Ismet Bekler. Maintaining a high production and a strict adherence to quality, Ismet's work quickly became some of the most sought after on the market. Be it an intricately adorned classic shape or an evocative figural piece, Bekler excelled at every aspect of the meerschaum pipe. His attention to differing line weights to create contrast and dimension, his understanding of real textures and how they translate onto the porous mineral, his meticulous execution of detail in the eyes and faces of his figurals... this perfection set the precedent for what we view as quality meerschaum today.