Kai, to a degree, you are correct in what you say, but there are many levels upon which we can understand the keris.
Similarly, the keris has many natures. In the old literary works we read about animals being krissed during a hunt. In historical accounts we read of a Madurese ruler getting a bit upset during a sea voyage on a Dutch vessel, and krissing a few people.In the babads we read of the people of Bali being overawed when shown a particular keris. It goes on. And on. And on.
Lots of different types and natures and characters of keris. Lots of things to understand about keris.
For a collector in the western world, David's approach of "do I like it" is probably more than sufficient to guide the building of a collection. After all, the collector is the person who needs to live with the keris, not somebody else, and if he doesn't like the keris, no matter how good some expert might tell him it is, then he's probably better to get rid of it.
However, when we push past that essentially personal approach, and we seek to come to terms with the way in which other people in other places and at other times may have thought about the keris, we have gone past the persona of a simple collector, and we have become a student.
No student can claim to be a student unless he is prepared to study.
Thus, the understanding of anything, including the keris needs to be rooted in study.
Lets move a little away from keris, and consider something a little bit more a part of our own world. Lets think about economics.
A 16 year old high school student might have some small understanding of economics, however, when he enters university and begins to study for his BA in economics, he finds that a whole new world has opened up to him. Now, this first or second year uni student is guided by a professor who completed his own Phd perhaps 20 years ago. The professor's knowledge and understanding of economics is formidable, and has gone past the level of simple mechanics and entered the sphere of philosophy.
Does this professor attempt to teach all of what he knows to the new student in his first year?
No, of course he does not, because the new student will not understand what he is being taught.
As the student advances with his study he will understand more and more, and his questions will indicate to his teachers the level of knowledge that he is ready to receive.
Eventually this student will perhaps complete his own Phd, and will have achieved a very high level of understanding of economics.
However, his understanding could well be a different understanding to the understanding of his professor when he first began his studies.
What I am saying here is that there is no easy way to achieve understanding, and no understanding can be universally accepted as the "correct" understanding. In order to achieve any level of understanding that understanding must be rooted in study.
In the case of the keris the study that must be carried out embraces the fields of culture, sociology, religion, history, art, literature, archeology, technology---just to mention the more obvious ones.
However, with all that said, it is still possible to achieve at least two things:-
1) an understanding of various facets of the keris as that understanding applies at this point in time
2) an understanding that other people, living in a different cultural context to our own, may have an understanding that varies from our own:- we may not be able to understand in the same way that these others do, but we can understand that they understand.
This subject definitely does not fall into the "too hard basket". But it does require some mental effort to explore it. If the mental effort is deemed not to be worth the potential result, then the obvious course of action is simply not to think.
On the other hand---
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