Development of Songket
There are now traders or wholesalers of songket who go out of the country to produce a large songket in a short time using local songket design. With this method, they can offer songket prices that are much cheaper than handmade original songket.Sometimes many are confused in songket selection especially when wanting to identify or distinguish which Songket Asli, Songket Asli Terengganu, Songket Machines, and Songket Artificial.
To avoid confusion and as a general knowledge, songket cloth is categorized as follows:
Songket Asli
Traditionally woven songket cloth in the state other than the state of Terengganu.
Songket Asli Terengganu
100% woven songket fabric traditionally in Terengganu state. The material used for making songket consists of selected and quality materials. This is to ensure the authenticity of the aesthetic values and the uniqueness of the songket fabric is maintained.
Songket Machine
The songket fabric is modernly woven by using machine tools and technology support. The quantity of production is a priority.
Not Original Songket
The definition of artificial songket is subjective, depending on the interpretation of the seller or producer of the songket itself. Usually the quality of artificial songket is of no quality where the color can not last long, is quickly damaged, easily faded or dull and sometimes easily pulled out the thread on the pattern of the flower.
Hand Woven Songket (Traditional)
Woven by hand woven by using certain equipment machinery is known as handicraft. Usually, songket fabric made in this way takes a long time to produce. Each sheet of yarn is examined during the weaving process. Manufacturing in this way prioritizes quality and work. The originality value is saturated.
Songket Weaving Machine (Modern)
Now we have a weaver that has the ability to produce songket cloth in many quantities. The main focus of this manufacturing process is to produce a large amount of songket fabric for commercial use at a cheaper price. The songket fabric produced in this way is still high quality but it has lost its unique qualities that make the traditional songket cloth more special.
The traditional songket is usually made of one color only – black cloth and sometimes red. Now, with the help of modern equipment technology development, songket can be found in various colors like blue, pink, yellow, white or some color combinations. An individual’s experience can help identify the authenticity of songket.