Hi Jacob,

I think you should contact the seller and ask him nicely what he can do with the silver work. I think if he wants to maintain a good long-term relationship (with you and undoubtedly the rest of collectors in this forum :D ), he would at least offer to help get a new pendok, if not partially offset the cost.

Not to worry, these silver pendoks are common and are too expensive. There are probably 'cottage factories' of silversmiths doing such work.

I would actually say that this keris and many others were refitted within the last 10 years.

I`m new with this, but what i am seeing is very beautiful and wish i could own the keris but i believe that the it`s expensive. :rolleyes:

My opinion: The blade is the oldest part of the keris, and I agree its probably mid to late 19th century max. The handle, sheath and pendok are probably all late 20th century work (if you are 'lucky', maybe there were made just a few months before the sale :D ). The older Balinese pieces rarely had full pendok. Rather, they cover only the back of the batang, exposing the front, which is usually pelet wood. Having said that, I have seen a most fantastic example in the book "Royal Gifts from Indonesia", which shows a Balinese keris with a sandang walikat sheath completely encased in gold sheet, and with the image of Kala embossed/repoussed on it. It was accentuated by many many (>50 I think) jewellery grade diamonds. The hilt was Nava Sari, also in the same high-carat gold sheet, encrusted with numerous jewellery grade diamonds. You need sunglasses to look at that keris or risk going blind. :D

The sheath of this example we are talking about is made from ebony, as is the handle. Ebony is a popular choice recently because good pelet wood is next to impossible to find. Silver pendok adorned with low-grade sapphire and rubies seemed to be a 20th century affair. The older sheaths rarely had them on the pendok, and the hilts typically use red or black gems, not blue, or even the green you see these days. Silver can be made to look old easily (ie greyish patina). :)

Sorry, my post above pertains to the discussion on the 1st page of this thread. A bit late, but just my 2 bits. :D

There are new ones just like this being made today in your part of the world . :)
And yes, they are somewhat expensive even in Indo .
Quality is quality no matter whether old or new . :)