The display you see behind Ian was at the May 2017 Ohio Gun Collectors Association. The owner/curator of the display won multiple awards in competition with many other outstanding displays. I was fortunate to examine the display and have a detailed conversation with its owner. I won't mention the owner's name here because, I presume if he wanted it known in this public forum, Ian would have mentioned him. As an American gun engraver and historian of the Firearms Engravers Guild of America, I have always been intrigued by the art of damascening. That display and Ian's video answered many questions for me.
Wow, the idea that one person has collected such amazing guns, assembled their histories and the intricacies in the practice of gold damasce, and then brought this knowledge and these items in the form of an exhibit for others to see is just so much more impressive. I'm sure there are some people who might say that it's wrong for someone to collect artifacts and keep them rather than them being in a museum, but the fact is that some items are so niche that there simply isn't a museum which could fairly be expected to hold onto and manage them. This guy/girl is really doing the lord's work.
Gracias por conservar en USA estas piezas de la industria armera Española. Aquí en España, la inmensa mayoría de estas piezas acaban destruidas. Ojalá mi país valorara el patrimonio armero como lo hace el vuestro. Gracias de nuevo porque si no, estas extraordinarias armas, se perderían para siempre.
As an cnc machinist that makes tight tolerance aircraft parts, tooling, connectors, as well as very small to micro parts for semiconductors and other small parts for the medical industry, this is mind boggling to me. The way these artists, by hand, punched in such tiny pieces of gold with such precision is beyond impressive. I can do some fine work by hand and have experience in just doing something as simple as deburring a very small soft material part such as in plastic or brass but that is nothing compared to what these guys do.
You must have missed the part where he explains that firing the gun doesn't really damage it, mostly handling does. So be more careful about holstering and storage, basically. And maybe don't damascene grips
I feel a soft but not very brushy fabric (cotton fibers would work if stretched out to fit flush with the holster but provide cushion) for the interior of the holster, paired with a non damascened grip, would allow these things to be used with little to no fear of wearing away the gold with careful use
3rrator Right? Im sure the current owner wouldn't have a problem loaning Karl and Ian a few of those guns for desert mud tests. Good one. I'm still laughing.
Just curious, in what way is he a Man of Action? I'm not saying he *isn't*, I'm just not aware of any ways in which he is (although I don't follow him much beyond this particular YT channel).
@@juliusraben3526 There are college classes on a whole host of different things, and there are people interested in just about anything and everything. Just gonna take a wild guess here, but I think Josemi Esteban was writing an essay for a degree in history. I don't know what level of degree this was for, but I had a professor who was working on his doctorate dissertation in anthropology and it was about beer in Iron Age Europe. A neighbor of mine is writing his evolutionary biology thesis/dissertation (can't remember which) on fruit flies, for God's sake. I think it is totally within reason to write an essay on something like traditional metalworking in Spain!
As an artist with a lifelong C&R fascination, I was literally drooling through this entire video. The amount of time it must take for someone to acquire the necessary skill to produce best-quality damascening is just staggering.
LOVE this channel! I live in Toledo, Spain, and you can see a few shops here doing Damascene still, by hand. "TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK!" all day. What a beautiful meditation. To combine it with firearms is heaven!
This is unbelievable. As someone who makes a lot of things with his hands, and did a lot of drawing and painting when younger, this literally makes my brain hurt. The guns at 20:30 and 22:00 are freaking masterpieces. It is truly hard to believe that a human did that with his hands. Those two guns were created by absolute masters. I would love to watch someone in the process of doing this. Those patterns would be hard to draw with a pencil, much less in damascene. My mind is so blown I may have to just turn off my computer and go to sleep.
This is the video that got me started on Forgotten Weapons and into buying guns. A year ago it was a passing curiosity, today I own two pistols and a rifle and I watch almost every new Forgotten Weapons video when it comes out. Good stuff.
Hello Ian, I saw your presentation about clips and magazines and now this one... I was wondering if you could do something similar about the developement of the Iron sight? In your videos you talk a lot aboutall different sorts of them so I thought that it might be interesting ... PS Love your channel!
Maybe start with the first basic sights on early muzzle loaders and then the progress to cartridge guns, (I think you had nice examples of different sight options in your videos about the Winchester leverguns). And maybe you could touch on subjects like when/how they became adjustable for elevation and windage. Another topic you mentioned quite a lot, is the style of ironsights of the US military in relation to competition shooting, it would be interesting to see on how this compares to other major powers of the time. Other topics to include could be the shift in ranges that the sights were adjustable for, smokeless powder conversions in for example your recent Swedish Mauser carbines, shift to backup sights nowadays and maybe oddballs like the Arisaka anti-aircraft sight. It will probably a very long video but it is just a suggestion...
The developments and changes in mentality of iron sights in military and consumer firearms would definitely be a video or series of them I'd love to see. And again holy shit this was a great video.
Doing jewellery as a hobby and seeing this makes me just want to give up. The workmanship is beyond incredible. If it was ever re-created Palladium alloy would be more difficult to apply but would not tarnish as silver does. Considering the skill and single minded dedication to create these masterpieces 10 X the value of the original gun is a hands down "bargain" Best vid on your site I have yet seen. You really do your homework. Congrats in order. Inspiring stuff. BTW are there any examples of Japanese inlay work (love its quality & zen simplicity) on firearms or indian. The early stuff from there would match the Spanish in skill and ornate complexity. Would be an interesting comparison to see.
Artists in general have to be careful about comparing output. This is many thousands of hours of work condensed into a 40 minute presentation. It may be very impressive now, but remember they were created one punch strike at a time. Take inspiration from their techniques, to be like the old masters, you must simply improve steadily over time. To have dedication when you lack motivation, and to compete only with your former self. You may be prolific, but you'll never be as productive compared to multiple people, let alone multiple artists portfolios.
@@Leadvest My skill is design NOT inlay or engraving that are specialist fields. In my line of work we hire specialists like that I just refuse the grovelling worm reality that most live in. I KNOW I'm good as a designer and not burdened with hypocryte false modesty BS. " If believing in yourself is evil. Its time we all did the sinister" Infectious grooves If that bothers people its because they NEED to be bothered The end .Goodbye!
@@avae5343 Gods are always viewed as nothing by insects because to insects Gods "dont" and "cant" exist. Rembrant? Yup fair comparison. I know but thanks. And what can you be but worm when you "attack" me while telling me not to the very same thing Proving yourself to have no self awareness just like a WORM. Your own hypocrisy condemns you. Bye Worm
A.K.A Arab monarchs and oil tycoons. I saw an Arabic engraving and the Saudi emblem (palm tree and cross swords) on several pistols along with a name plate that mentioned that the pistol was engraved for the grandson of a Saudi King.
My mental mouth was slightly open the entirety of the video, but at 19:43 the word *magnificent* just started reverberating in my skull. It is not often that one can see an object wherein so many man-hours of careful, painstaking, artistry are immediately apparent. I mean, DANG. A painter can render a landscape in an hour, a machine can stamp a gun in a minute, but there is no shortcutting that stippling!!! Is it even possible to _not_ picture the craftsman in his workshop sitting over this one thing as the sun does jumping jacks outside his window?
Some of these guns are just mind boggling in how stunning the decorations are. Just seeing how fine the detail is compared to the size of his finger tip is nuts. I couldn't achieve that degree of symmetry and evenness if my life depended on it.
Yet another youtube masterpiece of gun culture. The Zuloaga family are paramount to undertand XIXth and XXth century spanish decorative arts, not limited to guns. They experimented in ceramics, painting, metalurgy, etc. They used to have a museum open in Segovia, central Spain. My grandfather collected some of their art work. There are a some gun related museums in Portugal and Spain worth visiting, not many, unfortunately.
Woah. I have never seen this before and I'm typically not a fan of stylizing or embellishing guns but goddamn these are some pieces of art. Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you so much for presenting these.
21:14 Having seen just over half of this video, I spontaneously grew a beret, mirrored aviator sunglasses, and a '70s porn mustache, and became the dictator of a vaguely middle eastern country.
Such beautiful and amazing craftsmanship, I've carved small and this just blows me away, late to the party Ian but I'm so glad I found this forgotten episode in '22. Would have been an extra treat to see some close-up detail on the ebony grips, a stunning work of lethal art.
true, i really really wish i could get this done in the US but i don't think these kinds of artisans even exist here. I'd love to have this done to an American or any very high quality 1911, nothing against Star's 1911, it's just I'd want top gun craftsmanship if i was gonna have this done, which i absolutely do. I'd legit pay top dollar to have one of my 1911s or have this done to like a Cabot 1911, maybe even a Beretta 92fs, all would look immaculate i'd think. Unfortunately i think that's just a fantasy since I've never seen someone doing this kind of work in a non-Spanish country.
“Fractally gorgeous” is my new favorite compliment, thanks Ian! As always, your work is top notch and highly informative and I hope you keep it up forever.
Documentary quality videos, as always. Almost 40 minutes of a fascinating subject. Amazing, Ian! I really appreciate what you do. Greetings from Argentina
Similar for me. I'm generally not a fan of gold as it is probably the most tackily used precious metal and I still find these too decorative but I can appreciate the skill and artistry required for this. They aren't tacky in the way that a solid all over gold plate is, I just have pretty plain tastes and prefer the understated.
LOL reminds me of a quote from the movie Patton. A reporter asked him about his pearl handled revolvers and he said " They are ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl handled gun"
Absolutely fascinating & informative. Thanks Ian, for taking the time to do this. I think what impressed me most was the use of a slightly darker gold to represent the shadows thrown by the pillars in the Alhambra Palace panels - talk about attention to detail!
Jesse well in rdrd 2 there is a special c92 gun that you can collect when you kill one of the gun slinger It looks almost like the c92 in this video with the same kind of gold ingraves:P
that's why I've subscribed this channel, it's simply amazing what Ian brings to the public ... crazy I'll take the broom handle .... it's always ben my favorite gun, with or without damascene ...I believe there is a company in Turkey called Sarsimalz , if I'm not wrong, I guess they used to do something like that , which is the Mauser C96 broom handle with some sort of damascene... but , by far not of this craftsmanship ...
I prefer the toledo style as well. I like the stylish simplicity of the geometric patterns and When yo go to Spain and see some of the architecture that the moors left behind there's some amazing stuff.
That views of Sierra Nevada from "La Alhambra" are awesome...Yes those palace and architecture is amazing,it totally worth to came and see...But Ian miss a point into the Eibar style, is not so Cristian,Basque country is more on the mythological things,more related to the orography of the environment ( mountains and huge forest,very green...)
Dude. You are the biggest Geek I've never met! You really are the best! Thank you for all your content. I personally appreciate your demeanour and presentation.
When you have a gun like that, I don’t think you will be somewhere in the middle of war, trying to fight off bad guys. Or if you in Saudi Arabia it will blend with just about anything or everything.
Now please explain me, Ian, what you got on that makes not only me but hundreds-thousands of people to sit down and watch a 38 min. gold damascened guns video without losing a freaking frame of? The way you pass the content for us its absurdely smooth, confident and detail wealthy. Keep up the freaking good work, mate.
If you had any knowledge of renaissance masters, I doubt you'd say the same. These have no where near the amount amount of depth, complexity, or skill the true masters put into their paintings.
I think there's another difference In the comparison of the three pistols with different "qualities" of Damascene between the first "stunning" pistol and the second one and it's the fact that in the first also moving parts like trigger, safety and srews are covered with gold while in the second these parts are left in their original form
@@Simp44 That is because we live in a time where machines can replicate top artisan work with ease. It is rather sad to see such beautiful works of art become tacky, and is indicative of the sad times we live in.
@@Simp44 I certainly wouldn't buy one, but that is why they were typically gifts from master craftsman. It's a real shame such a piece can be easily replicated by modern technology.
"It's a nice gun I'll give you that, but the engravings give you no tactical advantage whatsoever; unless you were planning to auction it off as a collectors item. This is a high class weapon, it's not meant for shooting people"
When you were comparing the three levels of quality, I noted the lines of "dimples" (I've suddenly forgotten the word you used). The low quality and middle peices, the dimples were in very crooked lines. But the best one had almost perfectly straight lines of dimples. To my lay eye, that seems even more impressive than the perfect wire work.
Is it just me or is the coolest one the one with the holster wear? I can imagine if I was presented with one back in the day, I'd carry and shoot the thing any chance I got
Burlats de Montaigne if you read the labels pausing the vídeo, you would see that the pistols with muslim influence are in fact orders from muslim people, I have seen the egipt king and the saudi arabian kings names, thats why they have that muslim influence, nothing to do with the very bloody and savage occupation.
Good artistic taste, rule of law, scientific knowledge, medical knowledge, tolerance of religious difference, exactly the opposite of medieval Christianity.
"Engravings, give you no tactical advantage whatsoever." - Revolver Ocelot *Gesturing towards standard and damascene pistols* "This is brilliant. But *𝓘* like *𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼* " - Some old guy who did a car show or something.
The Romanian crested revolver belonged to Gen. Vasile Rudeanu (the "o" at the end on the pistol is most likely due to a Spanish pronunciation of his name), a 1'st World War representative of the Romanian Armed Forces within Alied Command. Salutari din Romania!
Foil is not leaf. Leaf is the stuff that blows away if you look at it crosseyed. Foil is about half the thickness of the aluminum foil you have in your kitchen and can be cut with extreme care and extremely sharp tools, then placed with tweezers. I've watched it done. It does take hours and hours for each bit of gold. Ian didn't keep using the word "artisan" for nothing.
The display you see behind Ian was at the May 2017 Ohio Gun Collectors Association. The owner/curator of the display won multiple awards in competition with many other outstanding displays. I was fortunate to examine the display and have a detailed conversation with its owner. I won't mention the owner's name here because, I presume if he wanted it known in this public forum, Ian would have mentioned him. As an American gun engraver and historian of the Firearms Engravers Guild of America, I have always been intrigued by the art of damascening. That display and Ian's video answered many questions for me.
Thanks - he preferred to remain anonymous.
Wow, I thought Ian was in a museum. Props to the man behind that exhibit!
Interesting!
Also that organization name when turned into an acronym is FEGA, and that makes me chuckle a bit.
Of course, if I own that many gold guns I’d prefer to be anonymous too.
Wow, the idea that one person has collected such amazing guns, assembled their histories and the intricacies in the practice of gold damasce, and then brought this knowledge and these items in the form of an exhibit for others to see is just so much more impressive. I'm sure there are some people who might say that it's wrong for someone to collect artifacts and keep them rather than them being in a museum, but the fact is that some items are so niche that there simply isn't a museum which could fairly be expected to hold onto and manage them. This guy/girl is really doing the lord's work.
*Looks video description*
"Oh, interesting. But probably not for me...."
*Sits glued on chair through whole video*
Taistelukalkkuna that tends to happen with forgotten weapons videos.
Taistelukalkkuna ditto
Same here.
100% truth. awesome video
Can't pass the chance to learn so much more in a short time.
I love Forgotten Weapons but never thought I'd sit through a whole 38min presentation about gun embellishment. Well played Ian, well played.
Wait, this was 38 minutes? Oh. So it is. I never noticed...
I am shocked that I've currently sat through 28
But was it well played?
And yet it feels like 10 minutes long
Gracias por conservar en USA estas piezas de la industria armera Española. Aquí en España, la inmensa mayoría de estas piezas acaban destruidas. Ojalá mi país valorara el patrimonio armero como lo hace el vuestro. Gracias de nuevo porque si no, estas extraordinarias armas, se perderían para siempre.
As an cnc machinist that makes tight tolerance aircraft parts, tooling, connectors, as well as very small to micro parts for semiconductors and other small parts for the medical industry, this is mind boggling to me. The way these artists, by hand, punched in such tiny pieces of gold with such precision is beyond impressive. I can do some fine work by hand and have experience in just doing something as simple as deburring a very small soft material part such as in plastic or brass but that is nothing compared to what these guys do.
We only see the works of the great artists. It's like going to a museum and only seeing Rembrandts.
I have seen these craftspeople at work in Toledo. We have a couple of fine examples of damascene jewelry. Many of them work without magnifier aids.
Dude, I can barely trim my beard without messing it up...
I'm a guy who likes simple and plain things, but I must admit this is eye-wateringly beautiful.
Same. I hate flashy things but these are incredibly tasteful.
You must have missed the part where he explains that firing the gun doesn't really damage it, mostly handling does. So be more careful about holstering and storage, basically. And maybe don't damascene grips
Same same. I never saw the aesthetic value in gold until now.
I feel a soft but not very brushy fabric (cotton fibers would work if stretched out to fit flush with the holster but provide cushion) for the interior of the holster, paired with a non damascened grip, would allow these things to be used with little to no fear of wearing away the gold with careful use
So, when can we expect the mud test?
3rrator Right? Im sure the current owner wouldn't have a problem loaning Karl and Ian a few of those guns for desert mud tests. Good one. I'm still laughing.
3rrator do the Lama, I can't stand those things, why would one damastine a Lama ??!! So many better guns to give such fine attention to.
Dose it take glock mags?
Most likely it was the Llama company itself that paid somebody to damascene that Llama pistol.
All you would be testing is how well the engraving holds up, and the video already shows the limitations of this engraving.
Gun Jesus reaches the Renaissance Man level: Engineer, Historian, Man of Action, and now Art Critic. My hat is once more doffed ...
Just curious, in what way is he a Man of Action? I'm not saying he *isn't*, I'm just not aware of any ways in which he is (although I don't follow him much beyond this particular YT channel).
@@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932 Action as in 2AGC, I do not think he is conducting a double life ;-)
@@scipio10000 What's 2AGC? I can't easily find specifics as to what it is from Google searching.
@@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932 Sorry the acronym is 2GAC two gun action challenge
Personal thanks to Ian, who probably saved me from failing college as I had to write an essay about traditional metalworking in Spain!
You should send him a personal message, through email or some other way!
Press x to doubt. I mean, depending on your education, it seems oddly specific
@@juliusraben3526 There are college classes on a whole host of different things, and there are people interested in just about anything and everything. Just gonna take a wild guess here, but I think Josemi Esteban was writing an essay for a degree in history. I don't know what level of degree this was for, but I had a professor who was working on his doctorate dissertation in anthropology and it was about beer in Iron Age Europe. A neighbor of mine is writing his evolutionary biology thesis/dissertation (can't remember which) on fruit flies, for God's sake. I think it is totally within reason to write an essay on something like traditional metalworking in Spain!
@@juliusraben3526 Here we have someone who's never written a thesis or dissertation. They are often *incredibly* specific
@@anactualfennecfox1 thats true. And what you describe, isnt an assay. Which is what original poster was writing :)
As an artist with a lifelong C&R fascination, I was literally drooling through this entire video. The amount of time it must take for someone to acquire the necessary skill to produce best-quality damascening is just staggering.
LOVE this channel! I live in Toledo, Spain, and you can see a few shops here doing Damascene still, by hand. "TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK!" all day. What a beautiful meditation. To combine it with firearms is heaven!
tuer tuer tuer
Question: Should I Damascene a Hi-Point?
Hell yeah!
Yes
I don't think it would work with the magnesium slide lol
Yes , only use the highest quality of firearms.... the YC9
Yes.
The artistry on display here is utterly breathtaking. This special was totally out of the blue, but could not be more welcome.
This is unbelievable. As someone who makes a lot of things with his hands, and did a lot of drawing and painting when younger, this literally makes my brain hurt. The guns at 20:30 and 22:00 are freaking masterpieces. It is truly hard to believe that a human did that with his hands. Those two guns were created by absolute masters. I would love to watch someone in the process of doing this. Those patterns would be hard to draw with a pencil, much less in damascene. My mind is so blown I may have to just turn off my computer and go to sleep.
21:25 "Here we have pistols with a +1, +3 and a +5 enchantment"
Hah that's a good one! Rare, Epic, Legendary/Mythical
Fractaly beautiful
"...really provides the gold standard- no pun intended..."
Ian, you're not fooling any of us.
ive been watching Ians videos for a while now, never really looking at tbe comments. "Gun Jesus" might be the best RUclipsr nickname ever.
That Astra 902 is a thing of beauty. It reminds me of an Oscar Wilde quote:
"Beauty is a form of Genius"
I mean holy shit you can see the shadows in the pictures
That powder horn is amazing man, Ian is so fortunate he gets to hold and touch beautiful pieces of history like that👍🏽. Love your channel man
The best part is he shows them to us up close and personal, both the beauty *and* the warts.
This is the video that got me started on Forgotten Weapons and into buying guns. A year ago it was a passing curiosity, today I own two pistols and a rifle and I watch almost every new Forgotten Weapons video when it comes out. Good stuff.
Imagine a fully damscenic covered main battle tank...
Nobody would want to shoot it
like these guns, I guess.
Hell yeah! Best lynch movie/best books and for me birth of SF. But you got to remove the electronics, cause of the computer ban...
would exist in warhammer 40k world
eww a panther in gold covering
Hello Ian, I saw your presentation about clips and magazines and now this one... I was wondering if you could do something similar about the developement of the Iron sight? In your videos you talk a lot aboutall different sorts of them so I thought that it might be interesting ... PS Love your channel!
bennie11bos. this needs more likes that would be a great video
+Forgotten Weapons This would be a great idea considering all the various sights we have seen over the years in your videos.
Maybe start with the first basic sights on early muzzle loaders and then the progress to cartridge guns, (I think you had nice examples of different sight options in your videos about the Winchester leverguns). And maybe you could touch on subjects like when/how they became adjustable for elevation and windage.
Another topic you mentioned quite a lot, is the style of ironsights of the US military in relation to competition shooting, it would be interesting to see on how this compares to other major powers of the time. Other topics to include could be the shift in ranges that the sights were adjustable for, smokeless powder conversions in for example your recent Swedish Mauser carbines, shift to backup sights nowadays and maybe oddballs like the Arisaka anti-aircraft sight.
It will probably a very long video but it is just a suggestion...
Great idea!
The developments and changes in mentality of iron sights in military and consumer firearms would definitely be a video or series of them I'd love to see. And again holy shit this was a great video.
Boggles my mind sometimes what a man and a hammer can accomplish....its kind of sad art forms like this are so rare nowadays.
"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like it needs to be Damascened"
There's not a problem too large that a larger hammer cannot solve.
@@angeleaterstudios1004
A cute misbehaving puppy.
@@damianrehbein3992 small plastic hammer
@@angeleaterstudios1004
I set up for chew toy hammer, but acceptable nonetheless.
Doing jewellery as a hobby and seeing this makes me just want to give up.
The workmanship is beyond incredible.
If it was ever re-created Palladium alloy would be more difficult to apply but would not tarnish as silver does.
Considering the skill and single minded dedication to create these masterpieces 10 X the value of the original gun is a hands down "bargain"
Best vid on your site I have yet seen.
You really do your homework.
Congrats in order. Inspiring stuff.
BTW are there any examples of Japanese inlay work (love its quality & zen simplicity) on firearms
or indian. The early stuff from there would match the Spanish in skill and ornate complexity. Would be an interesting comparison to see.
@@avae5343 So what makes you think I'm not @ mine?
@@avae5343 What if I'm that good doing it @ "hobby" level? I'm sorry pesumption is greatest folly. Peace out end of conversation
Artists in general have to be careful about comparing output. This is many thousands of hours of work condensed into a 40 minute presentation. It may be very impressive now, but remember they were created one punch strike at a time. Take inspiration from their techniques, to be like the old masters, you must simply improve steadily over time. To have dedication when you lack motivation, and to compete only with your former self. You may be prolific, but you'll never be as productive compared to multiple people, let alone multiple artists portfolios.
@@Leadvest My skill is design NOT inlay or engraving that are specialist fields. In my line of work we hire specialists like that
I just refuse the grovelling worm reality that most live in. I KNOW I'm good as a designer and not burdened with hypocryte false modesty BS.
" If believing in yourself is evil. Its time we all did the sinister"
Infectious grooves
If that bothers people its because they NEED to be bothered
The end .Goodbye!
@@avae5343 Gods are always viewed as nothing by insects because to insects Gods "dont" and "cant" exist. Rembrant? Yup fair comparison. I know but thanks.
And what can you be but worm when you "attack" me while telling me not to the very same thing
Proving yourself to have no self awareness just like a WORM.
Your own hypocrisy condemns you.
Bye Worm
The amount of detail on these items is absolutely staggering !
So this is just camo for the owners who probably live in engraved gold palaces.
Camo isn't decoration.
This is.
These guns come from people who have either reached max prestige or have unlocked all over camouflage
@@AG.Floats did you really try just to reply like the guy was being serious? It was a joke man.
A.K.A Arab monarchs and oil tycoons. I saw an Arabic engraving and the Saudi emblem (palm tree and cross swords) on several pistols along with a name plate that mentioned that the pistol was engraved for the grandson of a Saudi King.
Seriously no one thought of Trump after the words "engraved gold palaces"? XD
nearly 40 minutes of Fancy Damascened Guns on F.W
is this heaven?
XLightningStormL not Damascus
Yeah :p
It is what Gun Jesus hath promised us
It didn't even feel like forty minutes I was enjoying myself so much.
XLightningStormL Heaven can't be that nice. I'd take this over 72 virgins any day.
A 38 minute Forgotten Weapons video? It this what heaven looks like?
Englewood Frank21 You must REALLY love the bridges of Madison County since that's all there is...
And only 3 ads, i know youtubers who would put one every 3 minutes
Idk but I do see gun Jesus
Nah this is just the finest gun porn around
What reason could anyone have to downvote this video?
Thank you for the interesting and informative video, sir.
Absolutely beautiful weapons!
Maaaaaaaan! This was an amazing episode. I wish you shot it in 8K! Hell 4K would have been phenomenal!
One of the many reasons I love FW. Always interesting, always educational and always presented brilliantly 👍
One of the last few real quality content channels!
They look absolutely gorgeous.
My mental mouth was slightly open the entirety of the video, but at 19:43 the word *magnificent* just started reverberating in my skull. It is not often that one can see an object wherein so many man-hours of careful, painstaking, artistry are immediately apparent.
I mean, DANG. A painter can render a landscape in an hour, a machine can stamp a gun in a minute, but there is no shortcutting that stippling!!! Is it even possible to _not_ picture the craftsman in his workshop sitting over this one thing as the sun does jumping jacks outside his window?
My jaw physically dropped when that gun came into frame. Cant remember the last time that happened in my life.
DANGascene
I actually got to use a damascened Astra Lux in the enlisted game. As a twitch rewars.
Glorious
I never cared for decorated guns, but you managed to make the topic interesting and easy to understand. Thank you very much.
Some of these guns are just mind boggling in how stunning the decorations are. Just seeing how fine the detail is compared to the size of his finger tip is nuts. I couldn't achieve that degree of symmetry and evenness if my life depended on it.
The beauty of that artwork is hypnotising. One could stare and examine the fine details of each line for hours.
Even the details have details!
Yet another youtube masterpiece of gun culture. The Zuloaga family are paramount to undertand XIXth and XXth century spanish decorative arts, not limited to guns. They experimented in ceramics, painting, metalurgy, etc. They used to have a museum open in Segovia, central Spain. My grandfather collected some of their art work. There are a some gun related museums in Portugal and Spain worth visiting, not many, unfortunately.
I can barely draw a straight line
The dude lmao I can't draw one with a ruler.....
so become famous for drawing squiggly lines?
You're a poet man don't take it too hard.
Hobo Jesus There's a guy who makes money drawing on cars with a sharpie.
I read about a squiggly line drawer who became emperor of a large chunk of Europe!
Que exquisitez de trabajo Español. Preciosas piezas de historia y arte.
Incredible, beautiful craftsmanship. Thanks for showing and highlighting it.
Woah. I have never seen this before and I'm typically not a fan of stylizing or embellishing guns but goddamn these are some pieces of art. Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you so much for presenting these.
21:14 Having seen just over half of this video, I spontaneously grew a beret, mirrored aviator sunglasses, and a '70s porn mustache, and became the dictator of a vaguely middle eastern country.
Lmao same buddy same
Lets hope your goals of complete domination and control over your imagined Country come to fruition.
You forgot the beret or military cap.
"Hey guys, thanks for tuning in..."
And he's standing in front of a massive wall of golden guns.
I need to change my pants.
Such beautiful and amazing craftsmanship, I've carved small and this just blows me away, late to the party Ian but I'm so glad I found this forgotten episode in '22. Would have been an extra treat to see some close-up detail on the ebony grips, a stunning work of lethal art.
That star mms is absolutely beautiful the craftsmanship is incredible.
true, i really really wish i could get this done in the US but i don't think these kinds of artisans even exist here. I'd love to have this done to an American or any very high quality 1911, nothing against Star's 1911, it's just I'd want top gun craftsmanship if i was gonna have this done, which i absolutely do. I'd legit pay top dollar to have one of my 1911s or have this done to like a Cabot 1911, maybe even a Beretta 92fs, all would look immaculate i'd think. Unfortunately i think that's just a fantasy since I've never seen someone doing this kind of work in a non-Spanish country.
"Fractally gorgeous" is a perfect way to describe this work.
Beautiful gold on Spanish Steel! Doesn't get much better than this!
This is like visiting a museum with a knowledgeable guide. Loving it!
‘Fractally gorgeous’ ! A brilliant presentation, thank you.
“Fractally gorgeous” is my new favorite compliment, thanks Ian! As always, your work is top notch and highly informative and I hope you keep it up forever.
Damascened guns - The Fabergé eggs of the firearms world! Fancy!
Documentary quality videos, as always. Almost 40 minutes of a fascinating subject. Amazing, Ian! I really appreciate what you do. Greetings from Argentina
Absolutely beautiful items! Can you imagine the concentration and art that went into these?
Mind-blowing level of craftsmanship! Superbly presented, as always!
Definitely one of the coolest videos i've ever seen on the subject of firearms
I can just picture a british lord with moustache monocle and highhat: 'James! Hand me the velvet gloves, I intend to fire my golden astra.'
Me before video: "What's this gaudy mess?"
Me after video: "That.... is....amazing".
my reaction exactly
Similar for me. I'm generally not a fan of gold as it is probably the most tackily used precious metal and I still find these too decorative but I can appreciate the skill and artistry required for this. They aren't tacky in the way that a solid all over gold plate is, I just have pretty plain tastes and prefer the understated.
Sums it up pretty much 😀
28:30 damn that thing is stunning, having more black show through is really effective imo
I've watched this a couple times and it's simply stunning. The art, the skill, the time... amazing.
I realise this video has been out for a couple of years now but I found it to be amazing, a very informative piece. Thanks for the effort. 👍
I've always wondered where Bond villains get their guns. Well, today I learned
"You blue the whole gun". I'm afraid I just blue myself.
HahnsB2 Tobias you blowhard
@@Wafflepudding bluehard
Pimps everywhere will be scrambling to get these guns now Ian...
They already knew. The real pimps anyway.
God no 😱.
We all know the real pimps been had the Llama done up like that.
LOL reminds me of a quote from the movie Patton. A reporter asked him about his pearl handled revolvers and he said " They are ivory. Only a pimp from a cheap New Orleans whorehouse would carry a pearl handled gun"
Instantly read this in katt williams voice
Your regular content is amazing. I love the technical inspections but this was pretty awesome! Good job Ian!
Absolutely fascinating & informative.
Thanks Ian, for taking the time to do this.
I think what impressed me most was the use of a slightly darker gold to represent the shadows thrown by the pillars in the Alhambra Palace panels - talk about attention to detail!
I spot a potential BF1 skin
Asian Bundle of Sticks YES PLEASE. Oh gosh.
Jesse well in rdrd 2 there is a special c92 gun that you can collect when you kill one of the gun slinger
It looks almost like the c92 in this video with the same kind of gold ingraves:P
BFV definitely has it
And they did have those skins lol
Or CS:GO. (Do I hear GabeN cackling?)
that's why I've subscribed this channel, it's simply amazing what Ian brings to the public ... crazy I'll take the broom handle .... it's always ben my favorite gun, with or without damascene
...I believe there is a company in Turkey called Sarsimalz , if I'm not wrong, I guess they used to do something like that , which is the Mauser C96 broom handle with some sort of damascene... but , by far not of this craftsmanship ...
I prefer the toledo style as well. I like the stylish simplicity of the geometric patterns and When yo go to Spain and see some of the architecture that the moors left behind there's some amazing stuff.
That views of Sierra Nevada from "La Alhambra" are awesome...Yes those palace and architecture is amazing,it totally worth to came and see...But Ian miss a point into the Eibar style, is not so Cristian,Basque country is more on the mythological things,more related to the orography of the environment ( mountains and huge forest,very green...)
I've watched this video multiple times and every single time these pieces just blow me away
Dude. You are the biggest Geek I've never met! You really are the best! Thank you for all your content. I personally appreciate your demeanour and presentation.
This is why I tell people that some of the most beautiful and valuable revolvers I have ever seen are from Spain.
"it's a nice gun, ill give you that, but the damascene gives you no tactical advantage whatsoever"
You can blind them with the gold plating and make them jealous of your wealth and fine taste on guns xD
@@josemitakodachirecruit2004 and if you are planing to assasinate a president, you might as well choose something that will look nice in a museum.
I got gun' s my favorite is a 24k
44 mag. Gun porn 🤠
But that was some fancy shooting, you're pretty good.
When you have a gun like that, I don’t think you will be somewhere in the middle of war, trying to fight off bad guys. Or if you in Saudi Arabia it will blend with just about anything or everything.
Damascene M2 heavy machine gun. That's what I wanna see.
A walther ppk or beretta 92 in this would be nice
I say someone should Damascene a M1 Abrams tank!
that might get overheated and pop off the gold or melt it
Now please explain me, Ian, what you got on that makes not only me but hundreds-thousands of people to sit down and watch a 38 min. gold damascened guns video without losing a freaking frame of? The way you pass the content for us its absurdely smooth, confident and detail wealthy. Keep up the freaking good work, mate.
The technique is extraordinary, far more difficult than I ever imagined and beautiful workmanship.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that ANYONE EVER was capable of such fine metal engraving BY HAND at any point in human history.
Dwarves comrade.
Dwarves alone.
even "crappy" is frigging stunning. am i the only one that would rather have one of these than a painting by any of the renaissance masters?
You might want the painting. You could sell it and then be able to afford several of these guns.
A golden mona lisa on a m1911 doesn't sounds bad
If you had any knowledge of renaissance masters, I doubt you'd say the same. These have no where near the amount amount of depth, complexity, or skill the true masters put into their paintings.
@@spiff2268 that's for sure lol
I think there's another difference In the comparison of the three pistols with different "qualities" of Damascene between the first "stunning" pistol and the second one and it's the fact that in the first also moving parts like trigger, safety and srews are covered with gold while in the second these parts are left in their original form
wow. the quality of craftsmanship is unreal. so much fine details.
wow these guns and the technique is absolutely insane.. the level of detail is simply stunning, im in awe at some of these pieces
"poor damascening"
Still world's nicer than a boring grey pistol..
"oh, my pistol only has a weeks worth of gold punched onto it, not a month"
@Piss Muffin I've always found gold & super embellished guns to be extremely tacky.
@@Simp44 That is because we live in a time where machines can replicate top artisan work with ease. It is rather sad to see such beautiful works of art become tacky, and is indicative of the sad times we live in.
@@T1ddlywinks Naw it's just because they're tacky. It's a tool not a piece of jewelry. Just my opinion though, I wouldn't turn one down as a gift.
@@Simp44 I certainly wouldn't buy one, but that is why they were typically gifts from master craftsman. It's a real shame such a piece can be easily replicated by modern technology.
"It's a nice gun I'll give you that, but the engravings give you no tactical advantage whatsoever; unless you were planning to auction it off as a collectors item. This is a high class weapon, it's not meant for shooting people"
When you were comparing the three levels of quality, I noted the lines of "dimples" (I've suddenly forgotten the word you used).
The low quality and middle peices, the dimples were in very crooked lines. But the best one had almost perfectly straight lines of dimples. To my lay eye, that seems even more impressive than the perfect wire work.
Is it just me or is the coolest one the one with the holster wear? I can imagine if I was presented with one back in the day, I'd carry and shoot the thing any chance I got
Thank you Ian. Those examples were amazing. I'm blown away. Rare thing for me.
Thanks friend, loved it. The beauty, the work and your perfect background information.
the personal handgun of Billy midnight
I need my Taurus Judge damascened now.
The Moorish influence on the designs is unmistakable. 400 years of Islamic occupation certainly left its mark on Spain.
Say what you will about the Moors, they had good artistic taste.
Burlats de Montaigne if you read the labels pausing the vídeo, you would see that the pistols with muslim influence are in fact orders from muslim people, I have seen the egipt king and the saudi arabian kings names, thats why they have that muslim influence, nothing to do with the very bloody and savage occupation.
You can even see the arabic text (the shahada) on the guns
Good artistic taste, rule of law, scientific knowledge, medical knowledge, tolerance of religious difference, exactly the opposite of medieval Christianity.
@@JohnHughesChampigny ...You have to be joking.
This is so cool. I see enormous talent and OCD attention to detail on some of this, and such beauty! Let me just look.
ian seems to really know his stuff & nice demeanour & speaking tones. addition to any manhattan dinner party.
that damascened mauser c96 is beautiful
wonder what the model name of that one is due to the mag extension
Not a C96. Spanish Astra 902.
Some of these are just so ornate they becomes overwhelming, I honestly wouldn't want one I'd be too afraid to touch it
Now that’s true craftsmanship, just stunning work, thanks for a great vid
Never knew this sort of thing even existed that's why i like your vids more than most others you really give exquisite details and info on everything
"Engravings, give you no tactical advantage whatsoever." - Revolver Ocelot
*Gesturing towards standard and damascene pistols*
"This is brilliant. But *𝓘* like *𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼* " - Some old guy who did a car show or something.
The Romanian crested revolver belonged to Gen. Vasile Rudeanu (the "o" at the end on the pistol is most likely due to a Spanish pronunciation of his name), a 1'st World War representative of the Romanian Armed Forces within Alied Command. Salutari din Romania!
How do they cut such tiny pieces so precicely from gold foil? It would be fun to know.
you dont cut it from the foil, you make the pattern on the metal and hammer the foil down over it
Foil is not leaf. Leaf is the stuff that blows away if you look at it crosseyed. Foil is about half the thickness of the aluminum foil you have in your kitchen and can be cut with extreme care and extremely sharp tools, then placed with tweezers. I've watched it done. It does take hours and hours for each bit of gold.
Ian didn't keep using the word "artisan" for nothing.
wire. he says the best quality uses mostly wire, not foil
Is always a pleasure and super informative. Thanks for doing what you do.
I really didn't notice I'd been watching for nearly 40 minutes because I was so intrigued by it. Excellent video
Ian gets me randy for history.