Exotic IndiaReversible Jamawar Shawl from Amritsar with Woven Flowers

I've been searching extensively of late for a scarf / stole / shawl / wrap in just the right shade of pink or ivory. Not too plain, or too thin, or too shiny, or a pattern that looks like it belongs on a curtain rod instead of my shoulders; top quality pashmina or 3-ply cashmere, for less than $30. Yes, I know, cashmere for $30 - there's no such thing. I might as well have searched for a live unicorn. Although, according to some vendors, there ARE goats climbing the Himalayas now that grow Viscose, Acrylic, and Rayon fur. (It's on the internet so it has to be true, right?)So, after hours & hours of shopping and some purchases & returns, I stumbled upon this shawl. Perfect colors, beautiful pattern, handmade from real wool. But on the other side of the world, out of my price range, and no reviews for it or similar listings to vouch for its quality. After briefly weighing the pros and cons, very briefly because the shawl is so pretty I just plain WANTED it, I threw caution to the wind and placed the order. Generally shipments from Asia take about 2-6 weeks. Even standard shipment within the US can take 2 weeks. This one took TWO BUSINESS DAYS, four calendar days. I placed the order Thursday the 11th, it was in my hands 9 o'clock Monday morning, the 15th.They packaged it carefully, too. Inside the Fedex envelope was a sturdy cardboard box, completely covered with waterproof tape. Inside the box the beautifully gold-foil wrapped item was nestled in styrofoam. Inside the well-taped gold foil was a heavy plastic bag, also taped. Inside the bag was my shawl!Maybe the excitement and anticipation created undue expectations, or maybe I just don't know enough about wool shawls. This is my first one. My first impression was the smell. Like mothballs and gasoline, though fairly faint. The material felt as though is had a coating of some kind. Presumably it's treated to keep it pristine during storage and shipment. The color is dark beige in the photo, but more like light cocoa brown under florescent light. I spread it out on a twin size bed to examine it in sunlight. It is precisely the same size as the mattress, top to bottom and side to side. I anticipated a hand-made item might be flawed. There is a tiny flaw along one edge (one thread a bit thicker than the others) and a slightly larger flaw towards the center on the obverse side. It appears that a thread got hung up, tangled and knotted. I snipped off the bulk of the knots and it's barely noticeable. The shawl is advertised as reversible, but the reverse side LOOKS like the reverse side, though it is still pretty. In sunlight the color is still more light brown than beige. The texture of the weave is much smoother than I expected, especially on the reverse side. The material is supple and drapes beautifully. The label came off easily and left no residue.Even without opening the windows, the smell dissipated quickly, as did my disappointment that the body of the shawl isn't quite beige. The other colors are beautiful, the weight is just right, the pattern and overall craftsmanship are lovely, the sheer size alone makes it well worth $40, and $6 for shipping that distance that quickly is a bargain. All in all, I'm glad I splurged on this wrap and I'm pleased as can be with it!

Beautiful

It's a beautiful reversible shawl. Gave as a gift. It's long enough for a lady who is tall. She loves it.

The look and fabric craftsmanship is adequate, but the fabric type is misrepresented by the sellee. It is not wool. We did a wool 'burn' test on few strands to see if it burns and smells like burnt wool. It does not. It burns very fast as a synthetic material, with very distinguishable bitter plastic smell and leaves hard plastic burnt ball/remains. But overall the shawl is very pretty, nice colors and comfortable to touch.

Faded colors are lighter than I'd like. I would have liked more vivid colors and a little warmer material. It will be better for late spring rather than early fall.