well, it arrived this morning, one piece blade shows distinctive signs of being forged, and has faint signs of lamination tho i do not think there is any pamour, but is reasonably crudely done and is more obviously a tourist piece, the lines suggesting a 'ganja' are filed in.. the grip is permanently attached to the blade, pendongkok one piece. the blade is 4mm. thick at the ganja near the tang. the sampir is made out of a decent looking grained wood, with a horn end piece. wood pegs are apparent holding it all together. fits the blade nicely.
as i bought this one to play with, i'll probably give it a light cleaning and etch to see if there is anything there, but i will not go overboard. there is some patina on the blade, but i'd think it is not as old as i am.
i have a kris approx. the same size that was presented to a british army officer in 1998 by a malyasian army outfit in bosnia, in a fancy case, that appears to have been made from a forged bicycle chain and is much thinner & is flexible, and the ganja, while separate is wrapped around the end of the blade in a hairpin fashion, the clothes are a lot cruder as well. THAT one cries 'tourist'.
the grip and scabbard are a lot nicer on this new one. the overall impression is it is not a work of art like my other proper kris, but is strong enough and well made enough to function as a weapon. it has the 'feel'.
for simatua:
i used 'vintage' as a bit of a joke, as it is defined as pre-1970 by ebay. 'antique' is pre 1900 apparently
see attached. i am myself 'vintage', in 1970 i was a serving engineering officer in the US Coast Guard and was likely floating around the polar icecaps in the icebreaker i was assigned to. one reason i like blades from a slightly warmer climate.