SMS (SMS Meerschaums & Briars)

SMS is an import and distribution brand bringing meerschaum pipes carved in Eskişehir to the United States market. It is not a workshop producing pipes at its own bench, but an intermediary that commissions work from independent carvers in Türkiye and puts the finished pipes into circulation in the US under its own name. With a history spanning more than forty years, it is considered one of the most familiar names for Turkish meerschaum in America.

Founding and Family Business

The brand was founded in 1980 by Şamil Sermet, from Eskişehir, and his wife Beth Sermet. The business is known as SMS Meerschaums & Briars; its face online is SMS Pipes. In US trade directory records, the company appears under the title Sermet International, Inc., based in Vancouver, Washington, with a founding year of 1980. According to the company's own account, Şamil Sermet took a buying trip to Türkiye every year and personally managed the relationship with the carvers.

Following Şamil Sermet's death, the business has been carried on within the family: his wife Beth Sermet is credited on the office and ordering side, their son Mert Sermet in day-to-day operations, and Şamil Sermet's sister Emel Sağtekin in quality control. Sağtekin is stated to have held this role since 1988. According to records, SMS is considered a supplier reaching close to five hundred tobacconists nationwide.