Anatomy of a Jambiya The Old vs The New and How to Tell Them Apart

Lew · 14th June 2008, 08:47 PM

Hi All

Lately I been asked by a few people about how you tell the difference between older jambiya and ones made after the middle 20th century. I will attempt to explain the differences. The things you need to pay attention to right off the bat is the blade. Newer blades made after the oil boom of the 1970s often exhibit a central rib that looks squared off and pressed rather than rounded and forged to shape also the tip on the older blades some of them were imported from India seem to have the rib terminate just behind the point with the last 1/4 inch having a radiused tip that reinforces the tip during penetration. The next thing to look out for is the quality of the hilt most newer hilts have sheet brass coin like discs rather than real old coins or nail work and the band just below the blade is often of poor quality. You also must pay attention to the scabbard quality a general style which change from era to era below the top scabbard is recent the two below that one are 19th century and the small one is circa 1940-50. Below are some examples of Yemen jambiya all but one are late 19th century pieces. The example with the brass discs is 1970-90 vintage you can see the difference in quality the older versions have a mosiac of silver studs which were very labor intense to apply. I will be posting other examples from different regions in the Middle east in the future.

Lew

14th June 2008, 08:47 PM	#1
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	Anatomy of a Jambiya The Old vs The New and How to Tell Them Apart Hi All Lately I been asked by a few people about how you tell the difference between older jambiya and ones made after the middle 20th century. I will attempt to explain the differences. The things you need to pay attention to right off the bat is the blade. Newer blades made after the oil boom of the 1970s often exhibit a central rib that looks squared off and pressed rather than rounded and forged to shape also the tip on the older blades some of them were imported from India seem to have the rib terminate just behind the point with the last 1/4 inch having a radiused tip that reinforces the tip during penetration. The next thing to look out for is the quality of the hilt most newer hilts have sheet brass coin like discs rather than real old coins or nail work and the band just below the blade is often of poor quality. You also must pay attention to the scabbard quality a general style which change from era to era below the top scabbard is recent the two below that one are 19th century and the small one is circa 1940-50. Below are some examples of Yemen jambiya all but one are late 19th century pieces. The example with the brass discs is 1970-90 vintage you can see the difference in quality the older versions have a mosiac of silver studs which were very labor intense to apply. I will be posting other examples from different regions in the Middle east in the future. Lew Attached Images Last edited by LOUIEBLADES; 14th June 2008 at 09:15 PM.