Keris quality?

[David]

Cal, i debated whether to not to pass this post, mostly because of the last part of it. Members should feel free to message Cal is they have any dealer suggestions for him, but in the interest in keeping our conversations here commercial free i will delete any such discussions in public space.
Regarding your other questions, the answers are not so cut and dry and every example will need to be examined on an individual basis.
The brightness of pamor is not an indication of quality, but rather the materials used for the pamor material. High nickel quantities in pamor can make for a higher contrast pamor pattern which many do find desirable, but high quality keris have been produced for centuries with much lower contrast materials as well as no pamor pattern at all (kelengan). Brightness of pamor may also depend upon whether or not the keris is in good stain and a blade which shows very little pamor pattern may in fact look completely different once washed and treated with warangan. Rust can be removed from uncared for blades and the degree to which the rust has caused permanent loss to the material and damage to the integrity of the blade can indeed affect its value. But the bright and shiny keris is not always the best keris.