http://www.myArmoury.com/swor_pmc_floral.html

I just had to congratulate you on an incredible purchase-- that is a gorgeous sword! Is it the blade alone that differs from the original? How did you choose the blade you did?

I look forward to hearing more on the handling, if you have the time.

Thanks for putting it up!

David

:cry: Nathan, you lucky bugger - how do you get to play with such beautiful toys ??

Surely, Eric Stevenson must be emerging (has emerged ?) as one of the foremost sword makers on the planet !

Top marks must also go to the blade from Arms & Armor - the combination of the two is absolutely stunning.

Do you have to give it back - if not send it over here to me in Australia and I'll do a review for you (from the moon on a one way ticket !)

I combined this post into another on the Historic Arms Forum so they're in the same place. I'm not sure where it would best sit, so I just flipped a coin. Grin.

David McElrea wrote:

I just had to congratulate you on an incredible purchase-- that is a gorgeous sword! Is it the blade alone that differs from the original? How did you choose the blade you did? I look forward to hearing more on the handling, if you have the time. Thanks for putting it up!

Well, Erik really ran with this design. When commissioning pieces from a guy like Erik, I generally talk with them about the things that are of interest to me and then let them pick something they want to make. I've found that this gets a better result, as the maker has his own passion for the piece. I probably wouldn't have guessed that any maker would be willing or able to do all the detail work, so might not have chosen it, myself. When he picked it out, I jumped all over it!

He really used the original as an inspiration and not something that he chose to replicate. There are a lot of details on his piece that are not present in the original. The decoration on the various elements follows closer the pommel decoration than the original. In some ways, the photo of the original makes the pommel look somewhat out of place, as the decorative elements are not a match to the other motifs on the piece. Perhaps it's a composite. Who knows.

Erik also played with proportion, as well. His grip is much more ornate than the original's, as he felt the simple wire-wrapped grip was not enough. He added the vertical bar separators and the filed ferrules.

I was unable to find a maker from whom I could get a 37" hollow-ground blade; so chose A&A and asked for a triple-fullered blade to the same dimensions as the original. I like the combination, though I may switch it out for a hollow-ground blade after Albion produces longer ones in the future.

Hey Nathan. I don't know if this is a question you want to answer or not, but how long was the wait time on a piece this detailed?