Alan, thank you for your detailed and constructive response.
It seems I might have oversimplified the situation. Still, I am surprised by the paucity of the Balinese vs. Javanese kerises on the market ( and, yes, e-bay is my bottom-feeding domain:-)). Is it then simply a matter of the relatively same percentage of the vast production number of the Javanese vs. smaller number of Balinese kerises that go outside the internal consumption?
And I am still puzzled by your belief that the Balinese masters are unlikely to follow the universal market rules of supply and demand. This would be a unique example of human economy:-) After all, in the era of on-line commerce no mind-set is likely to remain immune to the financial opportunities offered by the Internet. In support of my belief is the vast number of Balinese handles , - very expensive!- that are for sale on e-bay. The blades will surely follow, IMHO.
With best wishes.
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