A Banjarmasin keris

A. G. Maisey · 14th December 2008, 08:07 AM

Intan are from the same raw material as diamonds, but they are rose cut diamonds, not brilliant cut diamonds. Brilliant cut diamonds are called berlian, rose cut diamonds are called intan.

Intan have the same range of colour as any other diamond, and can be yellowish, or blueish, some even seem to be almost black. But as I said previously, they are always quite brilliant and give off a very hard, cutting light.

Intan are not something that is exclusive to keris culture. It is a type of diamond, it is found in all sorts of jewellery, and it lends its name to shops and other businesses.

Sorry I didn't make this clear before, I was homing in on the quality question. Intan is not an indicator of quality, it is an indicator of cut.

I do not know if quartz crystal is the same as rock crystal. It probably is, because at lapidary shows we see big lumps of clear quartz, and smokey quartz and rose quartz. I only know yakut as rock crystal, and it is the same material that is used in Indo Persian rock crystal dagger hilts.

VVV · 14th December 2008, 11:48 AM

Nice keris with all the local details!

What's the size of it?
Is it smaller than a regular bugis keris?

Michael

tunggulametung · 14th December 2008, 04:34 PM

BluErf,

You must be traveling a lot for your collection or is it a lot of keris traveling to your collection?

If the second is the case, please share the charm/spell

.

Can we please see the pesi when possible?

BluErf · 17th December 2008, 03:09 PM

Hi all,

Sorry, was busy for past few days. Ok, I've got the pic here. Pardon me - I didn't unwrap the nylon thread around the peksi because I thought it was rather well-done and packed-in to try to unravel.

Anyhow, you can see the base and the tip, and get an idea of how tall and thin it is. The nylon thread is quite thick.

The keris blade is 11.7in, which makes it more or less the same size as a standard Bugis keris. The peksi is more than 2in tall.

To Tunggulametung - I haven't been travelling much.

But I don't know any useful spells too...

maybe it is because of a great keris that I "sacrificed" recently that brought these other rare kerises to me...

Alam Shah · 18th December 2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluErf

..

maybe it is because of a great keris that I "sacrificed" recently that brought these other rare kerises to me...

Perhaps that's it.. However, I've seen, held and inspected your "sacrificed" piece.. a great sacrifice indeed..

. I'm glad it went to a friend, so that I can perform a yearly visit to see and drool on it.

Beautiful craftsmanship by a master craftsman.

mykeris · 18th December 2008, 10:38 PM

Hi, Alan , agreed with you. Most Banjarmasin hilts were decorated with Yakut stones and not Intan unless redressed. I have a few so called old intan hilts but proven as non-intan when identified using a diamond tester. All these Yakut stones are actually soft with measurement of 4 to 5 on diamond scale. Intan or Diamond shares the same hardness that is more than 9. Bluerf, pls get your intan hilts tested for assurance!

David · 19th December 2008, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykeris

All these Yakut stones are actually soft with measurement of 4 to 5 on diamond scale.

Well, if Yakut=rock crystal=quartz crystal it should read 7 on the Mohs scale (i assume that this is what you mean by diamond scale. Mohs is the standard scale for mineral hardness). Flourite would be a 4, apatite is 5. Both these stones are perhaps too soft for this purpose.

17th December 2008, 03:09 PM	#4
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	Hi all, Sorry, was busy for past few days. Ok, I've got the pic here. Pardon me - I didn't unwrap the nylon thread around the peksi because I thought it was rather well-done and packed-in to try to unravel. Anyhow, you can see the base and the tip, and get an idea of how tall and thin it is. The nylon thread is quite thick. The keris blade is 11.7in, which makes it more or less the same size as a standard Bugis keris. The peksi is more than 2in tall. To Tunggulametung - I haven't been travelling much. But I don't know any useful spells too... maybe it is because of a great keris that I "sacrificed" recently that brought these other rare kerises to me... Attached Images

14th December 2008, 08:07 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,048	Intan are from the same raw material as diamonds, but they are rose cut diamonds, not brilliant cut diamonds. Brilliant cut diamonds are called berlian, rose cut diamonds are called intan. Intan have the same range of colour as any other diamond, and can be yellowish, or blueish, some even seem to be almost black. But as I said previously, they are always quite brilliant and give off a very hard, cutting light. Intan are not something that is exclusive to keris culture. It is a type of diamond, it is found in all sorts of jewellery, and it lends its name to shops and other businesses. Sorry I didn't make this clear before, I was homing in on the quality question. Intan is not an indicator of quality, it is an indicator of cut. I do not know if quartz crystal is the same as rock crystal. It probably is, because at lapidary shows we see big lumps of clear quartz, and smokey quartz and rose quartz. I only know yakut as rock crystal, and it is the same material that is used in Indo Persian rock crystal dagger hilts.

14th December 2008, 11:48 AM	#2
VVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sweden Posts: 1,637	Nice keris with all the local details! What's the size of it? Is it smaller than a regular bugis keris? Michael

14th December 2008, 04:34 PM	#3
tunggulametung Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 238	BluErf, You must be traveling a lot for your collection or is it a lot of keris traveling to your collection? If the second is the case, please share the charm/spell . Can we please see the pesi when possible?

18th December 2008, 10:38 PM	#6
mykeris Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 278	Hi, Alan , agreed with you. Most Banjarmasin hilts were decorated with Yakut stones and not Intan unless redressed. I have a few so called old intan hilts but proven as non-intan when identified using a diamond tester. All these Yakut stones are actually soft with measurement of 4 to 5 on diamond scale. Intan or Diamond shares the same hardness that is more than 9. Bluerf, pls get your intan hilts tested for assurance!