I had learned alot from this old man. First, that not all wootz is great as it sounds, some biyaadh (lit. 'whiteness', non-wootz blades) such as Wilhelm Clauberg blades, which he calls "Abu Askiri" (lit. Bearer of the Soldier), exceed in quality some zaraag (lit. blueness), wootz blades. He also generalises, that Indian wootz, is much better than persian wootz, even the famed assadollah blades, which he has many of. He actually offered me a persian wootz, slender kilic blade, with a very nice curve and yelman, very nice pattern, and old Syrian fittings, for $1200, when he wouldnt sell a clauberg blade for less than $1500. He also is under the impression that clauberg blades are 'Anglais', not German. I also learned from him, that he puts 90% of the price, on the blade itself, the fittings and their material being only a trifle, and the the blade and its quality is the most important thing. I also asked him about the provenance of the many arab karabellas that I saw in the souk, and in his shop, he told me that these were mainly produced in Najran, but also at San'aa. While handling that purple tulwar, it occured to me to ask him why he thinks they have smaller hilts, he replied by saying that the Indians have smaller hands than us. Terminology, he helped me with that too, swords with persian blades that have an extreme curve, are called 'hilali' (crescent shaped), swords with straight blades, are called 'gurda' (is that a hungarian word?), and swords, not falling into these categories, are called saif. Of course, to a person not knowledged in swords, every sword is a saif. Newly uncovered facts, not listed in Elgoods book
I also asked about the issue of polish, and that most blades coming out of arabia are buffed. He told me that he does not use a buffing wheel, rather, he uses special polishing stones, sandpaper, oil, and alot of elbow grease for polishing blades. He says, unfortunately, most people like to go the easy way, not willing to pay for a good polish job, and take their old, valuable blades to a blacksmith, who would buff them for a very cheap price. When I asked what he recommends for polishing wootz, he says that people used a a special kind of sand, mixed with spices, called 'narmahan', which, when rubbed against the blade, would bring out the pattern, without causing any oxidisation.
When it comes to Jambiyas, he told me that in Oman, two centres where the main ones in producing them, one was Muscat, the other, being the settlement at the Buraimi oasis, which included a large number of bladesmiths and metalworkers. The finest silver and goldwork being the 'Ibri (arabic for hebrew), nothing comes close.
Finally, I asked him about the many new, and not-so-old swords coming out of Saudi Arabia, usually having silver fittings and a nice blade, like the ones eftihis and I own, of which I say MANY at the souk. He told me that a large factory at Ta'if, produces those in huge quantities, mass produced, but hand assembled of course. He told me that the older ones, like 10 years ago or more, were of very good quality, having forged blades (spring steel) , heat treated, and bone, or sometimes even ivory hilts, depending on the blade (if it were new or old). Maria Theresa Thalers were used to make the silver fittings. The newer ones, however, are of display quality. Having machine milled, stock removal blades, plastic hilt slabs, and silver mixed with nickel. They have two uses, either for display, or for sword dances. They however, are still way better than the stuff coming out of Syria, still having steel blades.