Are all CAO Meershaums stamped?

[SkyKing]

I was looking at a couple of CAO Meershaums at smokingpipes.com and noted that there were no stamp markings. I have faith in SP.com but hesitated. I was under the impression authentic CAO's would be stamped. I missed one of them but they still have a nice calabash. If the pipes aren't stamped, how would SP or I know that they are authentic?

 

[MadMonk]

Mine have a little name plate. A couple have the carvers name, iirc.

 

[SkyKing]

I talked with the folks at smokingpipes.com and in their words, the meershaum market is confusing. The early CAO were stamped but were all carved in Turkey. Pipes are still being carved and distributed by CAO (under new managment from the old days) but only the case bears the CAO brand. Makes it very hard or impossible to be sure the modern CAO is authentic, and even so, if the quality is up to par with the earlier pipes. Of course, I'm sure you can find pipes with the CAO stamp that are counterfeit. Which is another reason for buying pipes for the esthetics and smoking pleasure, rather than as collectible investments - at least for me.