Tibetan sword: real?????

[kai]

I'm not certain...but the blade surface looks slightly 'ripple-ed' . It suggests to me ,assuming this is a fake, that perhaps it was 'acid etched' with areas 'masked off' with wax

Hmm, just fairy tales? Sure, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is a 21st century piece. OTOH, the laminations in question look interesting and much better than anything I've seen achieved by wax and acid etching.

http://www.tibet-buddhism.com/buddhist/mrm/b2310-7.JPG
http://www.tibet-buddhism.com/buddhist/mrm/b2310-8.JPG
In these 2 close-ups the blade looks laminated to me: there seem to be forging flaws which may follow the staining pattern. Even the surface rust seems to partially follow the laminations:
http://www.tibet-buddhism.com/buddhist/mrm/b2310-11.JPG

I'd certainly like to see high-rez pics before betting much money though.
If this really happens to be a paint job, I'm going to reetch any wootz blade myself before buying in the future!

BTW, I can't see what's so difficult about the hairpin pattern that it can't be reproduced by the Chinese facilities (or a competent rural blacksmith in the middle of nowhere for that matter) - the Chinese fakers have already been pouring out pretty complex laminated blades for years. Would be much more interesting to verify wether this really has an inserted steel edge with a good hardness...

Regards,
Kai