Dagger with golden inlay

The blade of the dagger is double-edged, hand forged of steel with four fullers. The scabbard and handle are made of the engraved steel, decorated with gold inlay (24-kt gold – 999) called Damascening in steel and Mammoth bone details. The overall style of the intricate floral decoration of gold inlay is typical to Caucasian weapons. The Damascening process involves cutting a pattern into the substrate metal, ensuring that the sides are undercut. Then the metal to be inlaid is cut to fit into the pattern and hammered into place. The technique is highly labour-intensive taking up to ten months to complete this piece of work.