Keris Basics

[Michael]

hi

I’m new there so please forgive me if I’m asking something that has been asked several times already. I’ve relocated recently in Indonesia and since I’m interested in keris I’ve been shopping aroung to look for original ones.
However, I’ve been quite disappointed since it seems to me that most of the keris I saw where not originals. The point is that I’m not really sure about that: I’ve been comparing the quality replica sold at shops like mirota and I just couldn’t really see the difference with the ones sold in cities like Joja for instance. I’ve been around the kraton and close to malioboro, but keris salers were more keen to speak about magics than about their keris themselves: a lot of them were with golden naga (even entwined ones) and i couldn't make out whether those keris were fake or simply commonplace in older times …I’ve seen on the forum that experience was the best way to learn about it, but I believe that there are also a few technical & basic points that can be checked to avoid basic errors (ganja & blade separated…) : would you be kind enough to list the ones you think about?

I’ve also taken a few pics: what do you think about these?


Ps: a lot of pics have been erased in the previous forums thus diminishing a bit the tips given previously