
Egypt is certainly known on the Middle East like the best spot to have a hookah and hookah accessories. The land of the pharaohs, pyramids, & sphinx is also the Motherland of the shisha (the Egyptian word for shisha). Egyptian artists still make shisha the old fashioned way — by hand along with a large number of pride in craftsmanship. Making hookahs remains to be a family tradition, and the best shisha makers in Egypt have earned their spots through the continuity of conventional methods. Glass bases will always be made from hand blown coloured glass, and artists still decorate them by yourself using paint, glitter, decals, or etching. Hoses are produced entirely manually, through the cutting on the fabric for the turning of your wood which will become the handles for the addition of decorative things including braid, fringe, or fur. Shafts could be made up of metals like stainless-steel, brass, or chrome plated brass, but those metals are formed via the hands of master craftsmen, created by skilled welders, and often etched or decorated by artisans. Potters still have a potting wheel to make the clay bowls that individuals call the “head.” Briefly, all the parts of the original Egyptian hookah is crafted by yourself using classic techniques which leads to a exclusive product everytime. Egyptian hookahs are so admired & respected across the Middle East that you will be challenged to find a pipe in another Middle Eastern country that does not have some part which was created in Egypt!
If the hookah craze hit the usa, the cultural icon in the Middle-East fell prey to the assembly line mentality. It didn’t take very long for the hookah to always be included with the list of counterfeit products being mass produced in China for export into the American market. Because neither the owners of manufacturing plants or assembly line workers in China possess a cultural stake or identity related to the product, the hookahs that they can produce involve no artistry. The glass bases are molded and after that spray painted; the glass itself is not colored. Any designs around the glass are likewise spray painted on by machines. Machine made plastic tubes with plastic or simulated wood ends haven’t any decorative elements on them. Machines mold shafts made from tin, aluminum, or a mixture of those metals with stainless-steel; sometimes, machines spray paint them in a color to suit the glass. Porcelain, a material for the purpose the Chinese are famous, has replaced the traditional clay bowl made from the rich clay of the banks on the Nile River. Cold, computerized Chinese machines have replaced the intimate touch of your Egyptian craftsmen whose jobs are a resource of pride.
Because Egyptian hookah set the industry standard, it’s become common for sellers to falsely label their Chinese look-alikes as “real Egyptian” pipes. Many purchasers have been completely taken in by the confusing description along with a lower price and think that they’re purchasing a real Egyptian shisha when, in reality, they have an imposter. Do not be duped! Search for the identifying characteristics shown below to ascertain if the hookah you’re considering buying is the real thing.
Characteristics of each Real Egyptian Shisha
Real Egyptian shisha are hand-made using centuries old conventional methods. Crafted via the hands of people which have a cultural stake & identity on their product, every part in the real Egyptian shisha involves artistry & craftsmanship.
The base of a geniune Egyptian hookah is hand blown colored glass that comes in a variety of shapes and colours with hand-painted designs. One of the most telling part of an authentic Egyptian base is its characteristic bands of real 18K gold or platinum paint.
Egyptian tubes are handcrafted using conventional methods & materials; they vary in design, color, & decorative elements.
Shafts are hand formed stainless-steel, brass, or chrome plated brass in numerous heights, variety of pipe holders, designs, and decorative things.
Egyptian shafts will never be product of aluminum or spray painted in a color to fit the glass base!A realistic Egyptian shisha is usually sold with the same variety of tubes that this shaft will hold. If you’re purchasing a 2-hose hookah, you can get 2 hoses!
Anybody who sells genuine Egyptian shisha may have replacement parts available. Glass bases break and tubes should really be replaced every couple of months for the health of hygiene, so it is necessary to gain access to individual parts to your shisha.
Features on the Chinese Imposter Hookah
The Chinese imposter shisha are mass produced in factories by machines and people who don’t have any cultural link to the goods. The hookahs all look a similar, just as one would expect from anything made on an assembly line.
Chinese bases are made of molded glass or acrylic that’s spray painted with material that washes off with normal cleaning. Designs, if any, are similar without variation in pattern or style because machines are preset to make them look in certain manner.
Chinese tubes are constructed of plastic with plastic or simulated wood ends without any decorative things. Sometimes the hoses are known as “pleather,” a marketing trick in order to make plastic sound better. Tubes are marketed as “washable.” No shisha hose is truly washable because inside each is a wire coil around in which the hose pipe fabric is wrapped. Flowing water over the hose-pipe only accelerates the deterioration procedure for that wire coil! There’s no such thing like a washable shisha hose-pipe!
Shafts manufactured in China are machine made of tin, aluminum, or even a combination of those metals combined with stainless-steel or chrome. They are generally spray-painted to fit the color on the glass. A hookah having a shaft that suits the color of your glass isn’t Egyptian! The shafts of Chinese hookahs are made of inferior metals that do not face up to normal deterioration. Egyptian shisha, on the other hand, are constructed of strong and durable metals that could withstand time and usage.
Because suppliers usually don’t have replacement parts or accessories, you can buy the Chinese hookahs from the container. Because of this multiple hose hookahs will often be sold with only one hose. In case you are purchasing a 2-hose shisha, chances are you’ll get only one hose pipe!
To ensure they are more appealing to the American client, Chinese manufactured hookahs are often sold with a hard shell carry bag. Thats a good way to hide an inferior product!
With the recent recall of several products created in China, customers should be especially careful of hookahs made in & imported from China because they’re painted!
To truly appreciate the cultural significance of the hookah and get the most of out on the shisha experience, you should have the actual thing! As the cost of some of the Chinese imports may look attractive, please understand that this is definitely an instance of getting what we budget for. A product that cannot face up to the usage for which it had been made is not really a great deal if it ought to be replaced again and again. Buy an authentic Egyptian shisha & offer the artisans & craftsmen who, in the world dominated by machine made goods, keep making shisha the way they as well as their families have for years and years.
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