Beautiful Pendray knife as well as the price!!

ALEX · 30th April 2007, 08:57 AM

Also do not like these fittings. I've seen the similar, but old, filigree fittings on some old Middle Eastern, Albanian/Balkan daggers, but they never impressed me. Agree with Manolo - Woots looks much better in the "natural" fittings, i.e. bone and leather. Also, for THAT price one can get a fine antique wootz sword (or actually several nice and old swords and daggers). Excuse the comment about the price though, it is just my opinion !!!

ariel · 30th April 2007, 04:56 PM

Glad I am not alone!
The silverwok on this piece is the simplest and the cheapest Caucasian decoration technique. You can see similar examples on e-bay for $19.99 ( stamped blade included

) and the only difference is that the present one is silver. I was told that Georgian mass-producers of these souvenirs employ part-time youngsters ( kind of " flipping hamburgers"-type job) and those start producing commercial wares after 2-3 days of practice. This is fine for a $19.99 trinket, but I would never pay $8,500 for this " Fantasy Sword of Klingon General" !

Tim Simmons · 30th April 2007, 05:33 PM

You are not alone. I thought this was bad enough with pearls and enamel. I have to sing my own praises

. Rather expensive garnets

.

Lew · 30th April 2007, 05:44 PM

That's my big gripe with the custom knife business today they make some nice stuff but they charge prices that are astronomical. I once showed a famous knife smith one of my wootz katars that I paid only $150-200 he said it was nice and if I wanted one made by him it would cost $2,000

So why buy a copy when you can have the real deal for much less

People just get caught up in the hype that's my opinion.

Lew

ariel · 30th April 2007, 06:52 PM

Agree with Lew 100%.
Modern swordmaking is an industry that manufactures toys and home decorations. Modern-made blades will never be used anyway ( are you going to slice sausages with a $8,500 blade?). For all I know, these high-priced Damascus blades may be no better than Taiwanese dinner knives from K-Mart: nobody will ever put them to practical test. And even if they are 10 times better than Ginsu knives, so what? Whose life had depended on the quality of his sword over the past 150 years?
Why would I want to have a blade with no history behind it? Without some romantic story, be it about the owner, the era, the war, the tradition?
Some want to revive lost technological process? More power to them. Some want to master old decorating techniques? Great! But to pretend that the final result has anything in common with the old weapons is like selling a "hand-painted" copy of Van Gogh's oil as a real thing and having a gall to ask twice the price of the original (" I had to work very hard to fake Van Gogh's style!")

Lew · 30th April 2007, 07:37 PM

Ariel

Pendray makes a great knife that's tuff nails and he doesn't charge that much for his work I actually paid very little for an all wootz knife with a 5" blade a few years back. The price sky rockets once the knife falls into one of these purveyor's hands. I have actually over heard them at shows telling other sellers that their prices are to low and to charge more so the big guys don't get under cut so buyer beware

I once traded a damascus camp knife a few months later it showed up on one of these websites where it went for fives times what I paid

go figure

Lew

Mare Rosu · 30th April 2007, 11:30 PM

I also agree on the "garish" as stated by Ariel as well as what Louieblades said. As the blade did not sell also indicates the "Price is not Right".
My comments are on the BLADE not the furniture. I think that Pendray's modern wootz is some of the best around. I am of the opinion that Pendray made just the blade and someone else made the rest.
I did learn something (any day is a good day when I learn anything, and most of my days are very good)

when Ariel stated that it is the cheapest style work. I am always amazed of the collective knowledge of folks on this forum.

ariel · 1st May 2007, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Ariel

Pendray makes a great knife that's tuff nails and he doesn't charge that much for his work I actually paid very little for an all wootz knife with a 5" blade a few years back. The price sky rockets once the knife falls into one of these purveyor's hands. I have actually over heard them at shows telling other sellers that their prices are to low and to charge more so the big guys don't get under cut so buyer beware

I once traded a damascus camp knife a few months later it showed up on one of these websites where it went for fives times what I paid

go figure

Lew

I am sure that Mr. Pendray's blades are technically superb and can cut regular steel like butter. But... who is going to try it for the price? I fully understand that there are 2 kinds of collectors ( many more in reality!): those who admire technical aspects of the blades and those who seek history and romance behind the sword. I am firmly in the latter camp and that's why I am not thrilled by modern blades no matter how beautiful and technically superb they might be. Give me an oldie, coming from a violent place with a fascinating history any time, something that likely saw a battle and bears scars to prove it and I am happy.
But, to each his preferences...
More from Zaza Revishvili:
http://www.balisongcollector.com/galleryZ.html
http://www.knifeshows.com/revishvili/revishvili.html
The best part, of course, he was a professional football player and is on the list of Best Ever Georgian Football Players
http://www.gff.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=112
This is for our European Forumites: no real American will be impressed by this info anyway. And, just for them: football means soccer

.

30th April 2007, 08:57 AM	#1
ALEX Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 936	Also do not like these fittings. I've seen the similar, but old, filigree fittings on some old Middle Eastern, Albanian/Balkan daggers, but they never impressed me. Agree with Manolo - Woots looks much better in the "natural" fittings, i.e. bone and leather. Also, for THAT price one can get a fine antique wootz sword (or actually several nice and old swords and daggers). Excuse the comment about the price though, it is just my opinion !!!

30th April 2007, 04:56 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Glad I am not alone! The silverwok on this piece is the simplest and the cheapest Caucasian decoration technique. You can see similar examples on e-bay for $19.99 ( stamped blade included ) and the only difference is that the present one is silver. I was told that Georgian mass-producers of these souvenirs employ part-time youngsters ( kind of " flipping hamburgers"-type job) and those start producing commercial wares after 2-3 days of practice. This is fine for a $19.99 trinket, but I would never pay $8,500 for this " Fantasy Sword of Klingon General" !

30th April 2007, 05:33 PM	#3
Tim Simmons Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: What is still UK Posts: 5,843	You are not alone. I thought this was bad enough with pearls and enamel. I have to sing my own praises . Rather expensive garnets .

30th April 2007, 05:44 PM	#4
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	That's my big gripe with the custom knife business today they make some nice stuff but they charge prices that are astronomical. I once showed a famous knife smith one of my wootz katars that I paid only $150-200 he said it was nice and if I wanted one made by him it would cost $2,000 So why buy a copy when you can have the real deal for much less People just get caught up in the hype that's my opinion. Lew

30th April 2007, 06:52 PM	#5
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Agree with Lew 100%. Modern swordmaking is an industry that manufactures toys and home decorations. Modern-made blades will never be used anyway ( are you going to slice sausages with a $8,500 blade?). For all I know, these high-priced Damascus blades may be no better than Taiwanese dinner knives from K-Mart: nobody will ever put them to practical test. And even if they are 10 times better than Ginsu knives, so what? Whose life had depended on the quality of his sword over the past 150 years? Why would I want to have a blade with no history behind it? Without some romantic story, be it about the owner, the era, the war, the tradition? Some want to revive lost technological process? More power to them. Some want to master old decorating techniques? Great! But to pretend that the final result has anything in common with the old weapons is like selling a "hand-painted" copy of Van Gogh's oil as a real thing and having a gall to ask twice the price of the original (" I had to work very hard to fake Van Gogh's style!")

30th April 2007, 07:37 PM	#6
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	Ariel Pendray makes a great knife that's tuff nails and he doesn't charge that much for his work I actually paid very little for an all wootz knife with a 5" blade a few years back. The price sky rockets once the knife falls into one of these purveyor's hands. I have actually over heard them at shows telling other sellers that their prices are to low and to charge more so the big guys don't get under cut so buyer beware I once traded a damascus camp knife a few months later it showed up on one of these websites where it went for fives times what I paid go figure Lew

30th April 2007, 11:30 PM	#7
Mare Rosu Deceased Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: USA, DEEP SOUTH, GEORGIA, Y'all hear? Posts: 121	I also agree on the "garish" as stated by Ariel as well as what Louieblades said. As the blade did not sell also indicates the "Price is not Right". My comments are on the BLADE not the furniture. I think that Pendray's modern wootz is some of the best around. I am of the opinion that Pendray made just the blade and someone else made the rest. I did learn something (any day is a good day when I learn anything, and most of my days are very good) when Ariel stated that it is the cheapest style work. I am always amazed of the collective knowledge of folks on this forum.