[A. G. Maisey]

Bram, I took all these pics, and all but one of those keris are still in my possession.

Yes, the pamor is pretty close to what you see in the photos. Much of the result of what you see is in the technique I use to take the photos; I use natural south light, I am particular with the quality of the light and if a pic is important I wait until that quality is right. I use a tripod and remote release, very slow shutter and a small aperture. Sometimes I forget the small aperture and use the mid range aperture that the lens performs best at. Everything I use is simple stuff that anybody can do.

The blades have been correctly stained. Pak Parman did his own, Pak Pauzan's and Mas Budi's were done by a commercial stainer in Solo, I did the blade that I made. The stain job that I did took me several attempts and several days before I was happy with it.The material in all the blades is iron and pure nickel.

So what you see is a due to a combination of care and correctness.

As for the appropriate pamor for a dhuwung Australie, it could be no other than pamor ron kulahbah (once a jolly swagman sat by a billabong,under the shade of a kulahbah tree)

And a very Selamat Natal to you too Bram.