Anyone have any experience with HoS luxury sets?

 Hello all,

I've been considering saving up for a luxury chess set and I found one from House of Staunton that I quite like. Once you factor in the board, boxes and shipping the cost comes to about $2,500 which is no small amount of money.

Does anyone here have one of the luxury sets, or have played with one and what is your opinion of the quality relative to the cost?

Thanks for any and all responses.

Some good stories & some bad stories about HOS in past posts. I would search this Forum. I personally would not buy an expensive set from them.

I've been buying sets from HoS since the 90s, and I never had a problem with them. I own many sets, including what you would call luxury sets, and in my opinion, they are rarely worth that kind of money. So I think $2500 is way too much, especially if you have to save up for that. Most luxury sets are hugely overpriced, and you can get a set/board just as nice for less than half of what you quoted. For starters, check the HoS eBay offerings: sets that cost over $900 can be had for less than $300 if you time it right.

The only time I would spend this kind of money is for an antique Jaques, as those sets will at least retain their value. I see no evidence that there is a collector market for mass-produced Indian sets branded HoS, so you'll only ever be able to sell the set at a significant loss.

Just my 2 cents.

If I had that amount of money to spend on a set, I'd be looking at an antique Jaques set. As Frank says, it will hold its value and there's something nice about playing with an old set.

It won't be any time soon that I make the purchase so I'll keep an eye on ebay for deals or for other sets that might pop up. I'm sort of indifferent to the original staunton design, there is definitely something to be said about having a classic set. Especially after reading the essay thread about them in the thread above mine. These are what I'm currently looking at:

Board: http://www.houseofstaunton.com/signature-contemporary-ii-chessboard-padauk-curly-maple-2-5-squares.html

Pieces: http://www.houseofstaunton.com/chess-pieces/luxury-wooden-chess-pieces/the-novara-series-artisan-chess-set-4-4-king.html

you can have someone build you that kind of board at half the price - try for example Mike at customchess.com

Not that I want to tell you your business, and I certainly have no idea what your net yearly income is, but in order to spend $2,500 on a chess set you should be making upwards of $10 million a year.  Do you really make that much?

Let's say if you were, as Gordon Gekko put it, "a working stiff making $400k a year and flying first class," sure you'd be a wealthy man, but even then spending that kind of money for a chess set is foolhardy.

So, either you are a fool or you are making MEGA bucks.  Which is it?

You should follow FrankHelwig´s advice: use eBay.

I have an HOS Sheffield that is worth every penny of the $350 that I paid for it on an Ebay auction.  Unfortunately HOS wants over $1200 for my set if you buy from their website and I don't think it's quite that nice!  As FrankHelwig suggested, check Ebay on a daily basis and you could snag a bargain.  There are also all kinds of retirees who have turned to woodworking as a hobby and who sell chess boards for a fraction of the price you'll pay HOS.  Again check Ebay.  And finally ChessBazaar sells a very nice version of the Novara for between 3 and 4 hundred bucks.  Let me see if I can find a link:

http://www.chessbazaar.com/chess-pieces/luxury-chess-pieces/the-shera-series-staunton-luxury-chess-pieces-in-bud-rose-wood-box-wood.html

The selection changes regularly, I think it's available in ebony as well. Good Luck!

Yeah see, Bad dog only spent $350 for his and that fella is loaded.  Not $2,500!

When you talk about 'saving up' to spend $2,500 on a chess set you have some seriously misplaced priorities brah.

Why don't you get your girlfriend something nice?  Take her to Europe for a week.  Get yourself a nice watch.  Jeez. 

 Not to get into it, but I'm an investor and Forex trader that happens to have an interest in collecting chess/variant sets because of enjoyment of the game and appreciation for the history. All I want are some opinions on HoS' quality control/business practices from users that have had some experience with them. That's it.

Well if you are successful "investor and Forex trader" (and I did figure you were in finance based on your willingness to spend $2,500 on a bauble) then what do you mean by "saving up" the $2,500?

You should be able to make that in a couple of hours, no?

 Forex isn't quite the "get rich quick" scheme people think it is. That said, market down turns happen regularly and money is made over the long term over the short term. So while I could drop a pile of money on it now, there is no logic in doing so. As growth is percentage based, $2,500 now could generate another $2,500 later if I sit on it. That's mostly what I was referring to, but ultimately I'm asking about quality of chess sets and shouldn't have to explain.

Yep, understood.

Is there anywhere you can go to take a look at this stuff in person?

 I wish there was. I was hoping some people here had some experience with them so I could get their impressions. I also tried to find some reviews on youtube too but it doesn't look like anyone with a set has created one. At least in a video you can see from multiple angles and what-not.

Incidentally, while I was checking ebay to see if they have listed any, I found some nice variant boards (xiangqi, shogi, luzhanqi, etc) for a fraction of the cost. I'd probably be happier with them over another chess set. Even if the chess set in particular is quite nice

They're in Alabama, but I don't know if they maintain a showroom.  You could call and ask...

I don't see anything foolhardy about someone saving their disposable income and spending it on something they like or want, no matter the cost. Their finances and priorities are their business.

I would spend 350.00 USD on the new Fide set before I bought that ugly set IMO. But, beuaty is in the eye of the beholder.

Simple....some people like having the physical, just as much as they like having the mental. Prefence isn't a one sided thing.