What you have is one of the original (I believe) House of Staunton Collector Series Ltd Ed (I have #159). When I had to replace two black Bishops from my set several years ago, HOS had no record of the set so I suspect it will be the same for your pieces. They are great pieces based on early Jaques of London Staunton designs and are definitely worth hanging on to. Hope this helps somewhat, best wishes and enjoy your beautiful chessmen. John C.
OLD HOS CHESS SET-NEED YOUR HELP ?
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Thanx John ! Do you remember when you bought yours ?
Mine I think I purchased in the late 80's when ebony was super black :)
And yes HOS has no record on this set-Guess we're getting old-lol.
I'm taking a guess here but the quality of the pieces and ebony
is so well done I think maybe Frank in the good ol days of HOS
had them done from Jaques. I believe that's the Jaque's Sig as
well on my label but not sure ? Anyone feel free to chime in as well.
Yes Robb, the date on my label is 3/17/97. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow from my laptop...I'm on my i-pad at the moment. I'm pretty sure they were made in India and detailed by HOS in Florida at that time. Stay tuned for further developments. Cheers : ) John C.
Thanks again John-My set never had a date on the label. Trying to
recall myself...Look forward to your pics tomorrow. I also think any
hairline cracks to the any ebony on these LTD sets was due to the
triple weighting-Very heavy pieces & probably lead of the good ol days.
Lovely set. As others have stated, it looks to be from the late 90s. I am assuming the set has crown marks on king-side R/N? And no extra queens?
I was a pleasure dealing with HoS in those days - it felt like Frank was personally inspecting every single set before it went out. And yes, you could still get close to AAA Ebony in those days.
I doubt HoS ever had sets done by Jaques. All modern Jaques sets are carved in India anyway, and frankly, Jaques has undeservedly been living off a reputation that was built prior to WW2, and they have not produced anything of quality since then (w/ a couple of exceptions).
As for value, I have yet to see any evidence that HoS sets are collectible. I own several HoS sets (including one from around the same time as yours) and enjoy playing with them, but I don't think they would fetch anything close to original price, if I were to sell them. If it ain't a pre-WW2 Jaques (or some small pre 1900 British maker), it's just really unlikely to attract a collector's interest.
FrankHelwig wrote:
Lovely set. As others have stated, it looks to be from the late 90s. I am assuming the set has crown marks on queen-side R/N? And no extra queens?
I was a pleasure dealing with HoS in those days - it felt like Frank was personally inspecting every single set before it went out. And yes, you could still get close to AAA Ebony in those days.
I doubt HoS ever had sets done by Jaques. All modern Jaques sets are carved in India anyway, and frankly, Jaques has undeservedly been living off a reputation that was built prior to WW2, and they have not produced anything of quality since then (w/ a couple of exceptions).
As for value, I have yet to see any evidence that HoS sets are collectible. I own several HoS sets (including one from around the same time as yours) and enjoy playing with them, but I don't think they would fetch anything close to original price, if I were to sell them. If it ain't a pre-WW2 Jaques (or some small pre 1900 British maker), it's just really unlikely to attract a collector's interest.
The box might help date the set.
Thanks fellas...Here's A Pic Of Box 
Pic of Box.....
FrankHelwig wrote:
Lovely set. As others have stated, it looks to be from the late 90s. I am assuming the set has crown marks on queen-side R/N? And no extra queens?
I was a pleasure dealing with HoS in those days - it felt like Frank was personally inspecting every single set before it went out. And yes, you could still get close to AAA Ebony in those days.
I doubt HoS ever had sets done by Jaques. All modern Jaques sets are carved in India anyway, and frankly, Jaques has undeservedly been living off a reputation that was built prior to WW2, and they have not produced anything of quality since then (w/ a couple of exceptions).
As for value, I have yet to see any evidence that HoS sets are collectible. I own several HoS sets (including one from around the same time as yours) and enjoy playing with them, but I don't think they would fetch anything close to original price, if I were to sell them. If it ain't a pre-WW2 Jaques (or some small pre 1900 British maker), it's just really unlikely to attract a collector's interest.
Thanx Frank & Yep-The Q marks are on the R & N-Red in color engraved in.....Would think it had some decent value considering how good the ebony is being sooooo midnight black..... ?
Here's a pic of the label:
HOS business card circa 1997, before they moved to Alabama.
Label with partial box...I guess the image files are too large to get more than one per post...sorry:
Thanks again-Got that same Bz Card too...
Frank never put a date on my label though
Hi-New Member Here.....
I purchased several decades ago a LTD HOS Chess Set-Pics.
I'm the original owner & set is Boxwood and Real Ebony.
Has Frank's original signature on label in box in pen.
Can anyone tell me what I got or value or history ???
Pieces are "almost" perfect and ebony is AA-AAA Black.
All pieces have no dings or dents as set never played.
Boxwood pieces queen has a point chipped off.
Ebony pieces have some hairline cracks in bases but
only the king, a couple pawns, and slight base on a knight.
Ebony queen had a chip off of a point. Other than the
inperfections listed set is like new.....
Thanks in advance for your help !
