lamellar structure of blade
From the photos, it appears as though your blade might be a tripartite construction. A central plate of high-carbon steel is sandwiched between two plates of iron or lower-carbon content steel. When the bevels are ground into the blade, the edge plate is exposed and when the blade is etched, appears as a narrow zone along each side. The gently undulating line that you see along the edge, a short distance from it, represents the demarcation between the plates. Often, the two "cheeks" on either side of the edge-plate may be laminates of iron/steel, or may fashioned from billets which are folded upon themselves, longitudinally, several times. In such case, a good polish and etch will reveal lengthwise striations between the exposed edge-plate and the central fullers.
This type of tripartite construction is quite common in a number of different cultures: China, Japan and Korea, the Philippines, parts of Europe, and other places.
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