In my opinion, very few pipes can outsmoke a Peterson meerschaum pipe — and this one in particular is all kinds of special.

First of all, it’s a 9S, meaning it’s a System pipe, and System meerschaums are not something you see every day. On top of that, it’s a big one — and size is a very real value factor when it comes to meerschaum.

Peterson’s rustication is gorgeous already, but in black it somehow looks even better.

And then there’s the curious part: the Tawney De Luxe line “normally” comes with a nickel ferrule, but this pipe came to me as a set with another smooth, unsmoked Tawney — and both have sterling silver ferrules. They’re completely unmarked, but I could tell by how differently silver polishes and oxidizes compared to nickel.