Circassian sword – Caucasus

The saber, the traditional weapon of the Russian Cossacks. Made in a single completed copy. The blade is made of high-alloy stainless steel polished to a mirror shine. The blade is decorated with floral ornaments, covered with nickel, gold and silver (black and white).

The handle and scabbard are made of jewelry brass. Hand decorated with geometric and floral ornaments. Additionally decorated with hundreds of cubic zirconia installed by the jeweler manually. Each stone is placed on the surface and drilled. The surface is covered with a multilayer coating of nickel, gold, silver and silver blackening.

In the eighteenth century and in the first half of the nineteenth century, Circassian nobles, especially Kabardians, continued to wear armor of a chain mail shirt and mittens, plate elbow pieces and a high helmet with a chain mail chain lowered down to the shoulders. Sabers with a long blade and a strong bayonet end were designed to puncture chain mail. Along with them, there was a need for lighter weapons, a long knife – shashka – appeared. This weapon was designed to repel a sudden attack: the cavalry sword was carried on the sword belt in such a way that the warrior took it out of its scabbard with one movement, and, without changing the position of the hand, delivered a blow. In the XVIII century, due to the widespread use of firearms, chain mail was used less and less, and the need for a saber with a bayonet end disappeared. So, the saber remained the only type of long-bladed cold steel weapon. The earliest known Circassian cavalry sword, dated 1713, is kept in the State Historical Museum.