When it comes to selecting the woods used to create our chessmen we wont compromise on grade or quality. Rare and exotic hardwoods are selected and matched for their uniform grain and tones.
The woods used in our chess piece production comes from limited stock piles of extremely valuable wood. Ebony, rosewood and red sandalwood are turned to perfection to create the worlds finest chessmen.
ROSEWOOD
Rosewood is an oily, rich and heavily grained hardwood. Aptly named due to its lovely red hues and flowing grains of rich brown colour. Rosewood is not considered to be as rare and endangered as ebony but stocks are running low in some parts of the world. Demand is always high for this wood due to its excellent properties and rich tones. The price of rosewood is constantly rising and we expect to see its use in super luxury chessmen increase as a result.
RED SANDALWOOD
Red Sandalwood is the most luxurious and beautiful of the woods used in chess piece. It's a fragrant hardwood with the most splendid rich red tones and shimmering grains. It's only used on the finest and best quality chess pieces due to it's high price and scarcity. When this amazing wood is crafted into chessmen the result is always stunning, the grains are varied and beautiful.
BOXWOOD
Boxwood is the wood most often used for the light chess pieces. It is not as expensive as ebony or rosewood but there is evidence to suggest it is in decline and stocks are low. Boxwood is a light creamy coloured wood with dirty grey streaks running through it. Very careful selection is undertaken to find blocks of clean boxwood to make luxury chessmen. Often when a piece is turned dirty grains become exposed which results in the piece being rejected before further stages of manufacture take place.
The scarcity of these luxury hardwoods means that they are in very short supply. With many countries putting extremely tight restrictions on the movement of these woods their value has soared during the last decade. As this trend continues the value and investment opportunity in owning these fine woods becomes more and more appealing.
SHEESHAM
Sheesham is a yellow / brown hard wood with rich and attractive grains. It is found in plentiful supply in India and has been used for making luxury furniture and cabinets for a number of years. While it's the least valuable of the woods used in the collection it still remains a beautiful, hard and high quality wood for chessmen. It is often referred to as Golden Rosewood or Indian Rosewood - both mildly confusing terms.
EBONY
Ebony is an extremely hard and dense wood that is very dark in colour. Ebony does contain subtle grain but can be found in pure brilliant black form. Lumps of ebony are so dens that they feel more like metal than wood, this makes is a difficult wood to work with. but the results are worth the effort. Used in the chess making industry for many years, the very first Staunton chess sets were made from ebony which is probably why it's so popular today.
EBONISED BOXWOOD
Ebonised boxwood is a chemically stained version of natural boxwood with the intention of creating faux ebony. Using mild natural acids and ferric metals, the boxwood is chemically stained to a rich dark patent black clolour which is extremely convicing. This process penetrates the wood to quite a degree, so the ebonised effect can't be washed or chipped off over time.. A great alternative to real ebony that not only looks great but costs less and doesn't involve the use of endangered woods.