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Originally Posted by ariel
An addition: "good" wootz ( high contrast) and "bad" wootz ( low contrast) are considered such only in esthetic terms. Mechanically, they may be soft, brittle, and otherwise defective in technical terms, irrespective of their superficial luster. Wootz is a classic example of beauty being skin-deep. Not for nothing european monosteel blades were prized by the natives in India for their fighting qualities, whereas wootz blades were brought to Europe to be worn on parades and exhibited in the museums. Ironic, isn't it?
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That very much sums up my opinion on wootz. Arabs have valued european blades (especially clauberg) and even put them as superior to some wootz varieties. Though Indian wootz is considered the best for some reason, I heard that the saudi executioner uses indian wootz (Jawhar) blades, but that could be rubbish as I heard it from a random person :-)
On topic: Should we make this with picture examples? Sometimes I have a hard time knowing the difference between Sham (Does this mean "fake" or sham as in the place, the levante?) and low contrast wootz so any pictures and some info would be nice !
Excellent idea :-)