Nice gold tulwar
 

Hello all
Three new tulwars to go on but will start with arguably the best.
Any ideas on period and specifically the armours mark/engraving whatever?
Blade seems closer to a Persian shamshir
Cheers
Andy

Second tulwar
 

Very short blade and light construction. Hilt silver coverd, which doesnt show too well on the photos.
Looks like the Southern Indian styles but never encounterd one with such slim quillions.

Third tulwar
 

The more serious weapon of war this, with heavy blade and large hilt. Not especially the banded decoration to the grip.

Asny ideas on protecting gold
 

By the way, the iron beneath the gold on the first sword, seems to have deteriorated a little and gold is becoming lose. Any ideas on how to fix this, without making a long term mess, as happens with old varnish.

OK ill answer myself
 

It has been suggested by a friend that I may try using a PVA mix, such as Unibond that dries clear. Any suggestions to that? "Like oh my god no!!! Dont do that"
I need advice people, please :)
Cheers
Andy

Andy, PVA is good as it drys clear and if reversible being water soluble. Any hamfisted work can be soaked and no damage done, a little more tricky with fabrics and other very delicate things. Tim

It is a difficult thing to combat when the hilt is as profusely koftgari'ed as the example you post. When the base metal begins to rust, you risk either sealing in moisture if you attempt to do that to preserve which could cause further rusting and any attempts to do anything else could remove more of the goldwork. Your best bet is to keep the hilt dry and in low humidity going forward to maintain it.