Criteria for determining the price of carpets

Being able to determine the price, even approximate, of an oriental rug is not an easy task for several reasons. From the outset, it must be taken into account that practically no two rugs are exactly the same, therefore, they cannot be valued as would be a mass-produced industrial product, each rug is a unique piece with its unique characteristics. To this fact are added a whole series of factors that determine the price of a rug and that we detail below:

1.- The number of knots per centimeter or square meter

This is possibly the most determining factor and undoubtedly the most objective that influences the price of a carpet.

Here there is no doubt, the greater the number of knots the higher the quality of the piece, the more work it involves and therefore the more its value increases. Even within the same origin there are different qualities with very important price differences depending only on the number of knots per square meter. Fortunately it is very easy to determine the number of knots per square meter that a carpet has, using only a ruler we count the knots in a square centimeter and multiply by ten thousand (number of square centimeters that are in a square meter)

In general, a simple carpet is about fifty thousand knots per square meter. A carpet of average quality will be around two hundred and fifty thousand to four hundred and fifty thousand knots per square meter. And from five hundred thousand knots per square meter we enter the world of high quality carpets, some of which can exceed one million five hundred thousand knots per square meter

2.- The material

The vast majority of rugs are woven in wool, but as the quality of the piece increases, it may have part of the drawings made in natural silk, generally lines that surround the floral motifs. Then we would move on to wool rugs not only with lines, but with entire areas knotted in natural silk and finally we have rugs knotted entirely in natural silk.

As the knot is smaller, the skeleton of the carpet (the weft and warp) is also finer: in coarser carpets, the skeleton is made of wool, in fine carpets of cotton, and in carpets with a very small knot the skeleton can be made of natural silk, although very fine cotton is not ruled out either.

Obviously, the greater the amount of silk, the higher the value of the piece.

3.- Seniority

In the world of carpets, just like many other objects in this world, good pieces age well and become antique and bad pieces age badly.

Thus, a good old carpet (more than 100 years old) will have much more value than the same new piece, due to the added value that the passage of time gives to these pieces.

Remember that a carpet can only be considered old when it is more than 100 years old, until that moment it is old or semi-old.

4.- Dyes

The wool or silk used to weave a rug may have been dyed in two different ways: by natural dyes, a complicated process since it is made from natural elements such as plants, stones, nut shells, some fruits or foods and even insects. The other way is artificial dyes, of chemical origin, which facilitate and cheapen the process immensely.

These natural dyes were introduced in the East at the end of the nineteenth century, and therefore, any carpet woven before that date has natural dyes and, therefore, greater value.

The mere fact of having natural dyes increases the value of a piece, although what really matters is that the dye, natural or artificial, is well fixed to the material.

5.- Originality and complication of the design

Generally, each city or producing area has its usual and traditional designs, which are usually medallion or different variants of geometric designs. The fact that a rug has an original, unusual or “rare” design, in short not usual, increases the value of that piece.

Everything that is rare or rare implies originality, little chance of finding another piece like it and, therefore, a higher price.

6.- Measurements

Generally, in this section, the same criterion applies as in the previous section, in the sense that the rarer a measurement is, the more difficult it is to locate and, therefore, it will have a higher price per square metre. Rugs are usually rectangular with a difference between length and width (e.g. 250 x 350), to which this difference is reduced, in the case of semi-square rugs (e.g. 250 x 300) or disappears completely, as in the case of square rugs (e.g. 250 x 250) the price increases.

7.- Origin, prestige and other details

In the world of rugs there are some origins or cities that give greater prestige and, therefore, greater value to a piece. For example, at the same number of knots a Persian carpet will always have greater value than a Chinese one, even many times with fewer knots a Persian carpet will have greater value, and within Persia, some cities or specific areas give greater prestige and value to a piece, for example, a carpet from Isfahan or Tabriz will always be more valued than a Mashad or Hamadan.