I think the description should be made up from canned phrases describing the item and its components. As Odd2k mentioned, you can\'t tell what the offensive properties of a weapon are just by looking at it. Perhaps an \"identify items\" skill that would help you aid in determining such things would be useful.
Better yet, your skill in identifying an item should be directly related to your skill in using said item. If I am an expert swordsman, I can pick up a sword, feel its balance, look at the edge of the blade, and know with a fair amount of certainty just how well I would to with that particular weapon in combat. If I pick up an axe, all I see is a big stick with a sharp blade attached to one end. I don\'t know how heavy an axe is supposed to be, where the balance point is, how thick the blade must be to do maximum damage, etc., etc.
Of course, magical enchantments might throw off any sort of analysis, no matter how skilled one is with the physical object. Unless, of course, you are also skilled in whatever way was used to enchant the item. In that case, you might identify the spell and its effects, and possibly be able to negate it if desired.
Edit: On the analysis of enchantments on an item: In addition to identifying spells form the same way in which you are skilled, you should also be able to detect, but not affect, spells from the opposite way. So if I was skilled in the Crystal Way, I could detect and remove Crystal enchantments on an item. I could also detect Dark Way enchantments (with somewhat less effectiveness), but I could not remove or counter them.
