Yes the scarf I have posted is misleading.
A true pashmina scarf can only be hand spun because it is made of pashmina yarn, the finest of cashmere yarn, coming from the Cashmere goat in Kashmir.
The Pashmina yarn diameter is finer than in cashmere yarn, thus is can only be hand loomed. It cannot be power loomed as the threads will break. You will always see a distinct birds eye weave pattern.
A true pashmina is never mixed with silk. It is very labour intensive to create a pashmina scarf and even more expensive if hand embroidery is added. It takes 200 hours to create a hand loomed pashmina scarf or shawl. The length varies and it can be 200 cm by 70 or 100 by 200 cm etc.
The key is the weave. If you hold a true pashmina to the light, it will always have an uneven weave as this is from the hand loom.
A true pashmina does not have any fringes as fine pashmina yarn cannot be gathered to make a fringe. You will always see a natural fringe. If there is a fringe, it is combined with silk or other fibres . This also goes for a 100 % cashmere scarf.
Also, a true pashmina or cashmere scarf will have a very dull colour, not shiny. IF a scarf looks shiny, other fibres have been added and most probably it is not hand loomed.
I often send scarves from cashmere manufactures for testing if I am not sure about the cashmere/pashmina content and it is important to do regular batch testing to make sure that manufacturers are consistent with quality.
Cashmere and pashmina testing is very pain staking and it is an expensive process as it costs £250 per scarf for testing. Even more if other fibres are found.
In the photo I have pure pashmina scarves . You can see the uneven weave. You can see photos of pure cashmere yarn and a photo of a pashmina scarf being made in a hand loom.
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