Alex,
Thank you my friend. I have a liking for shear steel
Archer,
Are both of these Jambiyas on their way to you now?
I'm sure this thread will receive more replies, once things are back to normal after the xmas break.
I've only briefly had one of these long Jambiya. But I've admired them for a while now and as far as I've observed, plain steel is very much 'the norm'.
Mine has indications of lamination, and thickens to a shallow central ridge. I believe that is common (from those I've seen).
The first one you show, has a finely shaped blade with a very crisply cut 'fuller'. the steel is fantastic whatever it is and the blade is very beautiful. Certainly unusually so in my limited experience.
It also looks like it may have a swollen armour piercing tip!
The second is also very interesting and looks to have a very 'wootz like' strucure. It's difficult to have a definate opinion from the pictures. The silver work is stunning as well!!
Several members have examples of these long Jambiyas and are much much more knowledgeable than I, so hopeuflly will come into this discussion. Our friend Stu (kahnjar1) has studied these and in fact is completely reponsible for me 'noticing' them in the first place.
I'm sure he'll be able to tell you what sort of percentage of the many he's observed have blades that are not just 'plain' steel.
When it/they arrive, I'll be interested to see more pictures!
Happy new year
Gene