I think that Phuntsho Rapten may have relied a great deal on the expertise of one of his informants, a man that is said to have a considerable sword collection (I have spoken to his son).
Below are some new swords, including a couple of shots of a laminated blade.
The smiths are working a lot with silver, so my observation that the pierced floriate work is not as nicely rounded and delicate as on some of the older (iron) pommels is just a function of the softer material, which must consequently be thicker.
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