I saw a german guy on you tube once that had a very extensive collection of Meerchaums. He said that he drove himself crazy smoking with white gloves on and other bothersome practices. One of his pipes looked very deeply colored and he laughed that the best result came from just enjoying the pipe and not caring about the finish. One thing I remembered about Meerchaums was cake should not be allowed to build up in your bowl. It will crack it at some point.