The Official Staunton Chess Company 4.4 Collectors Series Rosewood Set Review

THE REVIEW:

http://www.officialstaunton.com/products/collectors-series-chess-pieces


 The Official Staunton Chess Company's  Collector Series Rosewood 4.4" Chess Set, has raised the bar and reached new levels of excellence for premium quality sets. . The set is impressive in so many ways

 . One outstanding feature of this club size set is its WIDE BASE pieces.  Kings measure 4.4" in height with a diameter base  a tad under 2".  Pawns measure 2.25"  in height with a 1.5" diameter base. The Queen base is 1.875". the Bishop and Knight 1.625" and the Rook at 1.75".  This set will certainly please most collectors, like myself,  who love sets with wide base pieces. The pieces look fine on my board with 2 3/8" squares, but a board with 2.5" squares might even be better..

Another outstanding feature is the massive weight of this set. The Boxwood pieces weighed in at 40.7 oz with the Rosewood at 43.1 oz. for a total weight of 83.8oz. The 34 piece set includes extra Queens. Pieces are lead weighted.with their bottoms covered in thick green felt.

A few comments on the Boxwood and Rosewood.  The color of the boxwood was uniform for all pieces and visually quite pleasing. . Regarding the Rosewood pieces, I'm sure we've all had a set(s) in the past where the Rosewood pieces did not match and were not consistent in color. A real downer as we all know!  Well, you can put those fears to rest with the Collector Rosewood set. The Rosewood pieces are simply gorgeous exhibiting a consistent rich dark color with subtle figure. I have a lot of Rosewood sets in my collection, and none of them can compare to the beauty of the Collector Rosewood pieces. In addition,  the pieces are nicely finished and polished enhancing the beauty of this fabulous set.

I've saved the best for last, the magnificent beauty of this set. Each piece is finely turned with without blemishes, dings, etc. Each piece is a work of art and would qualify as museum quality! The impressive Kings, the Queens with their  awesome crenellations,  the wide mitered Bishops, the brawny Rooks, the exquisite hand carved Knights, and those stout Pawns. Summing it all up,  a premium quality set worthy of any collection. I highly recommend this gorgeous set, you will not be disappointed.   I have included many pictures of this magnificent set for your perusal. I would like to point out that my pictures did not capture the true beauty of the Rosewood pieces as they are difficult to photograph. The Rosewood pieces look much better in person. . 



 

Magnificent is all I can say.  Truly top notch.  Now it is on my bucket list!!!!

Although the set is way too big for my taste, It is a magnificent looking set. The Rosewood is awsome. Thanks for the great pics.!

Your welcome Frank. Yes, the Rosewood is very special.  BTW, what's your favorite size set?

Some close-ups of the boxwood pieces.

I like to stick with 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 inch Kings that fit nicely on a standard 2 1/4 inch square board.

Received the set today. It is just a great set. This will be the last 4.4" set I will buy for the near future. I too would like a couple in the 3 3/4 to 4" range.  This set is well done in every detail as GNM descibed so I do not have to go into details. Only thing that could improve upon this is to have a COA stating what company it was bought from and  maybe numbered. Yes that is how nice this set is that it should have a COA. 

I too wish that more of these nice sets would be made in both their premium 4.5 inch sizes and also a smaller 3.75 size for normal tournament boards.  I like the only 4+ inch set I have but I don't really like boards with >=2.5 inch squares as they seem too big in general.  A 2.25 inch board seems about right and sets which fit those boards (up to a maximum of 4 inch king sets if the bases aren't overly wide) seem perfect for analysis and play at home.

I find that boards with 2 3/8" squares work quite well with most 4" or 4.4" sets.

Beautiful set; thanks for sharing. Official Staunton simply doesn't make ugly sets.

That original staunton design is the most aesthetically beautiful design of chessmen I've ever seen. (Close second to the Dubrovnik sets, however, the knight is its crutch.) The bishop is so aggressive! I opted for the HoS Collector Series pieces simply for the price. They were recently discounted to $149.99. Needless to say, I jumped on that like 40 somethings trample over others for Tickle Me Elmos during Christmas season. Best of luck to you and your collecting!

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. I love the Official Staunton reproduction sets as witnessed by many purchases and posts on them. 

Glad to hear you got a good deal on your Collector set. Can you post some pics of your set?

Such a massive Rook on this set, as I have seen on many modern interpretations of the Staunton pattern.  I'm still undecided how I feel about it.  The rationale is the Rook is third most powerful piece in the game, and should be the third tallest, but making it taller than the Knight spoils the arch-like shape for the pieces as they are arranged on the board. 

HoS Collector Series 3.75" King Boxwood/Ebonized Boxwood

HoS Plastic Collector Series 3.75" King Natural/Black and Ivory/Black

I think Jack makes a good point. I've come to think that the value of the rook should be reflected in its mass rather than its height. 

Beautiful ssets, thanks for the pics. What's the weight of your Collector 3.75" wood set? 

Yes it is a very nice set. I purched one back in August, and it compares well with my HOS 4.4 inch collector and 6 inch HOS ST Petersburg sets. I use boards with 2.50 inch and 3 inch squares and this set fits welon both. Brought a chess set box from HOS just for these pieces.