Tyldwick - general discussion

[Hemera]

I had this deck about a year ago but I traded it away. After having read some of these excellent Study group threads (thank you BodhiSeed and others ) I re-purchased this deck and I´m so happy that I did! (I don´t know what I was thinking when I traded my first copy away )

Anyway, I have a question about the gilt edges. The gilt looks durable but does it wear much in use? How do you shuffle the deck so as not to harm the gilt edges? I usually riffle shuffle most decks but somehow I don´t think that is a good idea with this one.

 

[jolie_amethyst]

Hemera, regarding the gilt--my deck passed through four owners before it reached its final home here with me. As such, it probably has a little more than the usual wear on it, and judging by the condition of mine, the gilt is fragile. It's the one thing I don't like about this deck. Mine does have tiny chips in the gilt on most of the cards, though there's virtually no wear to the laminate. They're not huge by any stretch, but they're just visible enough and there's just enough of them to bug me a bit, tiny flashes of bright white cardstock on a deck that has nothing but muted tones.

I'm toying with the idea of periodically touching up the edges with a dark color (or three) Brilliance ink pad. This won't sink in where there's laminate or gilt, but anywhere the cardstock is exposed, it can absorb the ink. Eventually, there would be something of a mottled, aged effect on the sides of the deck, especially with multiple colors. And that, to me, might be more appropriate than the current bright gold finish, which doesn't seem to match the broody, haunting feel of the deck at all. Putting such a "tarnish" on it just might make me feel a little better about handling it regularly.

Meanwhile, I overhand shuffle gently. On the plus side, the deck does shuffle like an absolute dream!