Thread: How to tell a good rug from a cheap one

What distinguishes the Turkish made rugs vs. the Chinese/ Indian/Pakistan copies? Certainly the weaving is not high tech. and could easily be copied. The designs are what they are. That leaves the materials and their quality (wool, dyes).
The Turkish rugs I have seen tend to have a more tribal look with lower knot count, bolder colors and average wool quality.
I own some very fine quality Pakistan and Indian pieces (along with some antique silk Iranian rugs) with Australian wool, silk, high knot counts and intricate designs. I have also seen some very average or poor quality goods from those same countries. I would suggest that quality is not guaranteed based on country of origin, but rather on other factors. As you indicate, know the characteristics that define quality, and know your supplier.

Larry

A valid question, and one that I could write pages about. But lets touch on a few of the high points.

Like most things that are cheaper, the quality of the materials suffers first off. Yarn is nor nearly as good, nor is the knotting. The dyes are off color and not as rich, and most are not hand-woven (they have developed a loom with a long bar that runs the length of the loom that simulates hand-knotting, but one can tell). And like a Ferrari, its the imperfections that make the handmade Turkish rug appealing. When they are too perfect, its machine-made. Note the colors in the rug as well, they should have pop and be dramatic. Poor quality dyes are lifeless and boring. and sometimes you will see a color that doesn't look like it belongs in a rug, like a hot pink. Also note the number of colors in these rugs, some have 30 to 40 different hues in them. Cheap rugs tend to have just four or five colors and no Au Brush. Hand-knotting is also laborious and very time consuming - its slow work. The labor rates in Turkey vs China /Pakistan are not that much different, but the time it takes to make the carpet is due to shortcuts.

When I was in Turkey in August 2012 I spent one entire day looking at rugs, thousands of them from a number of merchants. It's easy to spot the good ones, they have character. Many of the rug stores that cater to tourists don't have the good stock, I went into many stores and in the 9th one I found a decent shop. I get my rugs here in the US from Woven Legends, and Nesliahn Jevremovic (owner) came to the USA when she was 19 years old, and then wound up in the rug business. She's not a broker, she has her own designer and owns the looms in Turkey so every rug that comes out of the villages she owns (good, bad or ugly). She goes over there 6x a year to inspect the looms and keep the training up and is very proud of taking Syrian Refugees and training them to make rugs - she showed me lots of photos on her last trip. I've been buying Woven Legend rugs for 25 years now, and they're made the same way as they did 200 years ago...

These are expensive. You don't buy them as rugs - you buy them as art. They are not for everyman and I don't follow the usual practice of marking them up 2.5 times cost and then bartering on them. Like everything in my store its wholesale plus and the price is the price - they won't go 'on sale'. I get carpets that I like, because that seems to work. I don't buy trendy ones, because over the years I find they hang around a long time. Customers seem to like my taste in rugs, and I just wish they were not so costly, but that's the way it is. You want a Rolex, you have to pay the Rolex price and all that....lol

I spent all afternoon installing these in the store (a lot of work!) Here's photos....for those that appreciate Turkish Carpets - these are all $ 83 a square foot in price. Sorry, I didn't have time to run these photos through Photoshop today and correct the lighting, they are straight out of the camera.

9'0" x 12' 0" : $ 8964 (photos below)






8' 4" x 10' 3" : $ 7,086 (below)







7' 6" x 10' 6" : $ 6,536 (below)







3' 3" x 9' 2" : $ 2,473 (below)





4' 2" x 10' 6" $ 2,828 (below)





4' 10" x 7' 7" : $ 3,039 (below)

And the one that I left behind.....I had bust my budget already but it was killing me to not buy this rug as well. Argh! ..... have to mind the inventory dollars......

I am a "ruggie". However if I sell off one in short order, I'll call and have them send this one down. Great colors, lots of pop. 7' 10" x 11' 0" : $ 7,149

Updated with prices....as per forum member requests

Random question Duane, is everything in those pictures for sale? ie Lighting, and such?

Also how much is this dining set?

Absolutely! Everything is for sale that doesn't have a SOLD tag on it, and in the room only the Highboy to the left is sold (its out of the photo frame but you can just see the leg).

That's a Councill # 78-315 table in Walnut, finish 742 (shown with one leaf installed, the other one makes it too large for this 12" x 14" room) that I was able to get a special buy on so this one only will be $ 4,460.

The (6) Chairs around them are Jessica Charles # 1920 Angelique chairs in Hancock & Moore leather Dream Fawn and marked in the store at $ 999 apiece.

Boy, those are some gorgeous rugs.

Slight digression: What is that red-orange couch in the last picture of post #2 above?

[We had previously decided to reupholster our sofa instead of buying new. But then we were quoted a huge price for the fabric we liked, and there was a mix-up about the ordering. I thought we had to wait 10 weeks before they were doing another run of the fabric, and then when it was available again we could order it. But actually, the situation was they required that the order be placed 10 weeks in advance, before they would do the run! I never ordered the fabric, due to my misunderstanding, and as a result we still have the old broken sofa. So something "better" can still come along].

That's a Taylor King Portfolio Special, part of the Design your Own collection. All USA-made, its the one I keep raving about as being the best value I've seen in a long time for a properly made sofa. And its well under $ 2,000 to buy.

What area of Turkey are these rugs from?

Thanks.