Ok I've been sitting and admiring it now for about six hours. Only now I can bring myself to put it away to write this. Unexpectedly the package arrived this morning. Looks like I don't have to pay any import duty. That makes this sword a real bargain considering the exchange rate and the reduced introductory price.

The sword is mighty impressive with an enormously broad blade and impressive heft. It's really a medieval cleaver. This sword packs a seriously powerful cut. Visions of mailed Maciejowski knights in great helms, brutally hacking and chopping comes to mind. Immediately upon grasping the hilt I was struck with how solid the sword felt. The hilt feels solid as a rock. The whole sword has an air of pure strength and confidence.

Astethically this sword is a knockout beauty. Every part complements the other. The raw power of the broad blade combined with the refined beauty of the hilt components, the double fuller and the graceful taper creates a stunning weapon.

The blade starts out completely dull and gradually sharpens towards the tip. The last inches of edge are scary sharp and the point is like a needle. The double fullers are flawless and gives a new meaning to the word straight. The fade out however is perhaps not quite as evenly done on mine as on Albion's photos.

I haven't held many good swords so I don't have much to compare it to. My A&A Henry V is closest ,being of almost identical length, though of a different type. Laying them side by side the sovereign appears more machine made. Clearly the sovereign is the more intricately designed piece. The bronze pommel is small and the peen is smooth as on albion's pictures. I'd say the build quality is similar but the A&A piece seems to be slightly better finished. Nothing obvious though. Handling them I think the sovereign tracks better through the cut than the Henry V.

The campaign scabbard that came with the sword is also nice. It doesn't let the sword down. It's plain but the leather is perfectly smooth and the seam straight.

I have a complaint though. The sword had patches of rust all over the guard and had too little oil on it. Even my cheapest sword, a Cold Steel had a thick layer of yellow grease covering the blade. Here almost nothing even though it's a three times more expensive piece.

All in all the Albion Sovereign is a great piece that I will never sell.

I am sorry about the troubles bud. If you are not 100% satisfied with it we want to make you that way. I will be sending you an email about this in a few minutes. I just wanted to pop on here and let you know one would be coming incase you see this before the email.

We will make this right for you.

The notion of rust happening during shipping is a tough one to solve. Some customers, like myself, don't want to have swords arrive covered in goo of any kind. I live in California where there isn't a lot of humidity. I have never had a sword shipped to me with rust. I've had swords shipped to me with various coverings of greese, oil (heavy and light), and even a strange pink paste. I'm irritated about having to clean it off before I get a chance to handle the sword.

Having said that, however, others will have another opinion on the matter and would rather be safe than sorry. I understand that. People live in various climates and the traveling a sword has to do will put it through different conditions. The mention, above, of the handling from customs officials is a good comment and probably very accurate in this case.

I recently sold a sword. Before shipping, I polished the heck out of it and oiled it lightly. I was told it arrived with spots of rust on it. I've never had this happen, but this kind of thing does happen.

Hi Alexi

These rust stains are not really a problem for me. I have already scrubbed them off. It's unpleasant though to open the box and find it that way. It is possible as you say that customs handled it. Someone has been pawing it. There was fingerprints here and there. More goo on it might protect better against long fingered customs officials though.

The finish on the Albion is higher than the A&A, especially the hilt components. It also has some machine marks along one edge. No such things are evident on the A&A therefore i said it was better finished. Note that I was looking critically to compare the swords. It's not like its a flaw.

When my Jarl arrived it had rust on the hilt. This is the first sword I've ever recieved in this condition. Quite a few areas of the United States have been having abnormally high levels of moisture this year, I suspect that has a lot to do with.

A big congradulations on your new sword! :D

Although I really haven't had time to review or post any significant feedback on my Sovereign I can honestly agree with all your positive comments here. It is certainly one fine sword and currently my favorite :D

Enjoy,

Whenever I start getting antsy about that dreaded four letter word R U S T Vince Evans always reminds me that "rust can be your friend" ! ( controlled of course :-)

A simple cleanup with the right grade steel wool, & oil, and your sword will be as good as new, and take on that nice "aged" look that many of us find so appealing ( shiny is for jewelry folks ;-)

Mac

Kenneth,
Just wanted to say congrats on the new sword and sorry to hear of your slight rust encounter, (I'm sure Mike S. made you a good offer to remedy, he's such a nice dude) but like Mac said, it just adds a little more character to what I'm sure is a fantastic weapon.


Bill

Had a bit of rust on my recently-arrived Sempach, but it cleaned up rather nicely. I've heard other reports of the same on here, so it seems to be an unfortunate summertime trend. A little MetalGlo and a cloth was all it took to clean mine up; I didn't even need a scotchbrite.

When I put in for my Sovereign, I'm definitely requesting as much goo as Albion can put on there. Obviously the transit from WI to NJ/PA includes some unhappy climates. ;)

I had the same problem with my recently arrived Agincourt from Albion. you can see before and after pics of the rust and when i had removed it with a scotch brite pad and some break free

http://www.andrewzander.com/armory/agincourt.html

Same here. My Sempach arrived with some rust on it. Cleans up easily enough but it's still a tad disappointing when you open the box.

My Duke arrived (in early May) in top condition. I agree with what some of the other posters have said: the humid summer might be the evil root of the problem. I clean and oil my weapons on a regular basis, and after use, and my Duke has still gotten a few patches of patina on the cross (this from one day to the other). This I think is purely because of the weather. Unless some sneaky little git have snuck into my apartment and fingered my swords when I had my back turned... :evil:

Actually, there is one other trick you can do to prevent rust that's used often in the Nihonto community to preserve polishes worth several thousands of dollars.

After oiling the blade, wrap it in a single ply of saran wrap or clear plastic wrap.

This keeps down the goo level and also prevents any moisture from coming into contact with the blade. I imagine the trick would also work on hilts, etc.

The humidity was awful here a few weeks ago. I had to maintain Henry constantly to avoid rust. The Sovereign has a really nice and deep sheen now that I have been polishing it for a couple of days. The bronze pommel shines as it should shine. I hate it when bronze or brass patinates and becomes all dark and dirty.

I haven't mentioned the grip wrap. This deserves mention as the seam is very nearly invisible. The grip feels like it could last forever. Just like the rest of the sword actually.

I have had very good results with Sentry Solutions' "Tuf-cloth", even when I lived in the Pacific Northwest.

-Dave

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The raised sword in the middle looks very much like an XIV. Even has double fullers like the sovereign. The Maciejowski bible is dated 1240-50 something. Oakeshott dated these swords as appearing from 1275. Can this be seen as proof of the type being in use earlier than Oakeshott dated it?