| Deciding factor | Gambiered silk | Screen-printed silk |
|---|---|---|
| Where the colour sits | into the yarn, through its thickness | on the surface, in the pattern area only |
| Front vs back | two consistent faces (dark / brown) | pattern side, pale wrong side |
| Sheen | low, from the mud coat | depends on the base cloth, no coat |
| Ageing | deepens, then lightens at friction | prints fade evenly, base yellows |
| Smell after wetting | earthy, plant-tannin | paste / no earthy note |
| Price behaviour | labour and weather driven | screen count driven |
| Lot-to-lot match | expect variation, control by lot | repeatable to a screen |
Decision rule
Spec gambiered silk when the brief is about hand-feel, the two-face behaviour and how the cloth will look in three years; spec a print when the brief is a drawing, a repeat and a tight budget. A print can look like gambiered colour in a photograph, so put the two-face test and the wet-smell test into the incoming inspection instead of trusting the image.
All figures on this page are illustrative sample values, not measured specifications.
Is a printed copy illegal or counterfeit?
Not by itself — a print inspired by the look is a different product, and it should be sold as one. It becomes a labelling problem when a print is sold with the gambiered name attached, because the buyer then expects the two-face behaviour and does not get it.
Can a print be made to mimic the mud black?
It can come close in hue and fail on two things at once: the back stays pale, and the surface has no dry drag. Those two failures are exactly what a buyer feels first, which is why mimicry sells badly at second order.