Monday, March 6, 2017

Somdej Nai Phao Phim Hua Bai Sri (Wat Inn, 2495)

Sharing an excellent condition piece of somdej Nai phao, 2495, Wat Inn.

This is the most expensive and sough after pim for Somdej Phao and has mixed with great amount of Somdej WRK old powder. I highly recommend this for newbies or anyone that likes somdej.

I only recommend 2 phims for this batch. Phim Ork Ruang Hua bai sri or the other phim with protruded chest.

Other details of this amulet, please refer to previous post. I have blogged about this in detail many years ago when i started blogging.

Many years ago, a thai friend taught me to collect amulet with standard material and standard phim to learn and even if it costs a little more. This principal i follow till now. This amulet is one such example.

 

 


Wednesday, March 1, 2017

LP Moon Pidta Ruay Thun Zai

One of the Pidta I loved the most if Pidta Ruay Thun Zai. Many of my friends know i don't wear pidta. I never found pidta effective, at least that is my personal feeling and i have tried many including those made by LP Toh, LP Tim. I have not reach LP Iam, LP Kiew, LP Klan standard yet. So, i have never try those. But LP Toh one and LP Time one, i have worn before and i got no positive feeling at all. In fact, i started to get hot tempered easily and my relationship with family becomes tense. So, i stop and never wear pidta for a long time. Until last year, i got convince by a thai collector to try LP Moon Pidta and this changed my view altogether. I have described that in my previous post, so, i am not repeating again.

Pidta Ruay Thun Zhai (Money abundance, millionaire) was made in 2543. Very new in fact. It has received raved reviews all over Thailand. It was made with many different type of materials and made in very small quantity. So, before i come to US, i invested in the most expensive material , nur Lek Num Pi. This costs me >150k THB. Considering other material is only costing 20k - 45k THB. But i believe it will cost even more few years down the road. Many of my friends have collected the entry level material and have good reviews too.


Other info:

Roon: 1st batch, Sao ha

Year made: Sao ha ceremony was conducted at Pha Nong Lom on 8th April 2543 B.E
Quantity made: 109 pieces
Remarks: First time in 132 years, it was made in ceremony blessing of Sao ha lasted for 5 days by 5 monks of Luang pu with age of more than 100 years old on Saturday the 5th waxing moon in 5th months and 5th year (Dragon year 2543 B.E)

Monks Participated

- LP Moon, master of ceremony
- LP Kong , 102 years old , Wat Sra Montol
- LP Lamai, Wat Payen Phechabu
- Kruba Tieng Tum, Wenruwan, Srisaket
- LP Sruang, Baan Sai Loom





2497 vs 2505 LP Thuat Nur Wahn, Ajarn Tim (Wat Changhai) - Part 2


LP Thuat of 2497 B.C. version is said to be the harder one to differentiate from other kinds, because:

  • LP Thuat was made of earth and wahn. The one that has higher component of earth looks more black while the one with more wahn looks more brown and grey. This amulet with the black tone has very fine texture, for example Pim Kammakarn. Since the amulet was not mixed with fixed components, this produced the outcome of different tones. Need an expert to examine and differentiate the amulet.
  • The way amulet was kept. When the amulet faces heat and humidity, the condition may change- the texture becomes more tight or loose.
The way to examine LP Thuat of 2497 B.C.needs to have a lot of understanding of which kind of mold and the colour pigments of the amulet.

LP Thuat of 2505 B.C.version (Phi nai khum commonly known as) is more intricate than the 2497 B.C. version since more time taken to produce and fewer number produced. (2497 B.C has 64,000 whereas 2505 B.C. has 20,000 pieces)

  • Pim Yai with Kamakarn face is similar to Pim Kamakarn of 2497 B.C. version but smaller. It is said that they might use the same mold.
  • Pim Yai with Kamakarn face (but made of new mold). The look is slightly different from first one. It is said that this becomes the original mold for Pim Yai wat Sai Kow (Ajarn Nong)
  • Pim Pra Rod may look similar to Pim Pra Rod Kammakarn 2497 but there are some difference. Phim nai khum version, 2505 B.C. has the same tone as Pim Kamakarn. As such, the tone is black with red, black and white pigments, similar to 2497 B.C. version. At the back, there are parts with gold colour mineral, which is unique to this amulet (2497 B.C. amulet may have this characteristic, but not many)
The amulet of Phim nai khum version, 2505 B.C. was produced in smaller quantity than the amulet of the same kind that has the same golden mineral at the back of the amulet. Therefore, Phra LP Thuat, , Phim nai khum 2505 B.C. version is more suitable to be collected than 2497 B.C. version in my opinion.

The amulet made in 2505 B.C. is usually big, worth collecting, although is rare, especially Phim Nai Khum Pim Pra Rod, compared to 2497 B.C. version, which is more common but more expensive.

In summary, for people that cannot afford 2497, or have better far sight, should study 2505. It is far more valuable and has great potential to increase prices. Anyway, their price difference is just 10-15% difference in market now. A top grade 2505 phim nai khum costs the same as a good grade 2497.


What I shared here are 2 very good condition 2505 LP Thuat Phi Nai Kum. One is Pim Yai with kamakarn face and same mold of 2497 pim kamakarn. The other one is new mold. Face and body looks slightly different if you look carefully.  Both are in excellent condition and have won in multiple competitions organized by Samakorm. 






2497 vs 2505 LP Thuat Nur Wahn, Ajarn Tim (Wat Changhai) - Part 1

Many people asked me about LP Thuat (nur wahn) of 2497 and 2505 origin. What is the difference, how many type , material composition, how to differentiate etc.

I would like to pen down what i know and my advice as well.

For 2497, it was well know for the fact that it was the first LP Thuat image. Ajarn Tim the then abbot of Wat Changhai, get "authorized" by LP Thuat to make this images to bless the devotees. It was made of mixture of both "earth" and "herbs". The colour of the amulets depends on material composition and mixture. The more "earth" it is the darker it became and the more herbs it has, the amulet appears brownish or greyish.

Almost all monk stayed near Wat Changhai participated in the making of LP Thuat. The younger monks helped to make materials into "nur" whereas the older/ more senior monks helped to pray/chant. Many special steps were needed to create herbal amulet by hand. Each Nur is unique due to different percentage of ingredients, different time taken to mix/press into mold and dry time too. Nur was sculpted into hundreds of "ball" and hand-pressed them into mold and let it dry naturally. The one that are left to be pressed later, was mostly dried off and cracked easily.  Nur that was not "elastic" enough, resulted in crack. Nur that was too liquid will not produce sharp edges and accurate features. The final piece looks all different because of all these factors despite being mixed with the same ingredient. That is the reason why it is hard to find 2 identical pieces and it is so difficult to authenticate a 2497 even for expert in LPT.

So, to authenticate, please make sure you check the form, the ingredient, greasiness, dryness of materials. If possible, scrap a bit and go through spectrometric analysis to see exact composition and age of the materials. :)

It is that difficult. Strangely, some 2497 are easier to be authenticated than others. And those easier to be authenticated, are usually those that are in bad form. Super dry and the right composition visibly seen. They are cheaper too (due to its bad condition or worn out condition) but safer in my opinion.