Comparing Dubrovniks

Having been swept up in the wave of Dubrovnikomania evident in this forum and elsewhere, I thought I'd provide some side-by-side comparisons of my three main Dubrovnik sets. In the pics that follow, the pieces on the left are the maple white pieces from my red-stained 4" NOJ set; the middle pieces are in boxwood from my ebonized 3.75" HOS set; and those on the right are from my brand new 3.6" Chessbazaar sheesham and boxwood set. Perhaps I'll post a dark piece comparison separately.

Very interesting. When put side by side like that the differences are quite pronounced. Thanks for posting!

Yes.. Thanks.! Ifekali promised to do the same thing a while back. It seems he was a day late & a dollar short on his promise to do a comparison..!

Thanks for the pics Chuck, All 3 sets are wonderful and no Dubrovnik collector should be without these babies!!

I posted these previously, but they fit well in this thread.

Side by side comparison of a 4" Noj Dubrovnik II and a 3.5" Noj Dubrovnik 1950:

Chuck, here's some comparison pics of the Noj 91mm (aprox. 3.6") walnut pieces and the ChessBazaar 92mm (3.6") sheesham wood pieces. Excuding the first pic, the pieces are side by side with the Noj pieces  shown on the left and the ChessBazaar pieces on the right.

Wow, the Noj set is obviously much more finely detailed and finished.

The Knights ecpecially show the quality differences in carving and finish.

The Noj King, Queen and Bishop also have a finer cut and dimension to them including an extra collar on each compared to the other set.

I'm glad I own a Noj set and now look forward to getting the red one I have on order.

Comparing them side by side like this I would say I like the HOS better.

Wish they made it in the original wood combination.

Hello Frank

Is your Noj 4" Dubrovnik the maple & brown finish set ? It looks beauitful !

I have the Noj 3.6 1950 Dubrovnik and I have just ordered the 3.6 Dubrovnik II in the maple & brown.. I wanted the Dubrovnik II to be a little different in color than the 1950 set,but was torn between the red and brown.update...after thinking about it looking at orginal pictures,  I decided to go with it's orginal look[ like Bobby Fischer's set] I e-mailed Gregor at Noj and changed to Maple & Walnut.

Crgrau,Frank and Mike thanks for posting the comparision pictures

Yes, it is. The pics actually don't do the finish justice. You'll love yours when you get it.

What you need is the 4" Sheesham CB set in the wider bases and taller rook in comparison with the Noj.  Not saying it surpasses the Noj but for LESS THAN 1/4 the price after you add in shipping and extra queens it is certainly a very nice buy and well done in every way. The sheesham all matches and the craftsmanship is exquisite.  It sure beats whatever was in 2nd place. 

The ChessBazaar 3.6" and 4" Dubrovniks have certainly made a postive  impact on collectors world wide in their gorgeous array of colors and woods. The CB Dubrovniks have "sold out" many times and they can't restock them soon enough! Considering their price, quality and amazing appearance one can see why Dubrovnik collectors are sucking up these sets. I have both the 3.6" and 4" sets in my collection and its hard for me to say which one I like best. I also have the beautiful Noj 91mm and 4" sets in my collection and have to say the the CB sets compare quite favorably.

With all due respect, the Noj sets surpass the CB ones in quality and design by quite a bit.

I am sure the CB sets look alright when by themselves, but when you look at them next to each other, the Noj sets are much, much nicer.  It is obvious that the CB set has much less time and quality put into it.  The bishops are cruder looking as seen in both sets of pictures. 

Look at how bullous the CB Bishop top is compared to the other two.  The CB bishop looks quite a bit different than the other two companies.  It apparently is not as close to the original design. 

The carving on the knights also shows a great discrepency between companies.  Just look at the picture of the white knights at the top of this thread.  Look at how crude the CB knight is compared to the other two.  The cuts on the Noj set are well defined and more numerous.  The HOS set shows just a bit less of the detail but still has quite a bit.  The CB set looks as if they need to finish carving it.

The HOS set looks better produced than the CB sets.  The detail is finer.  I would put the HOS at second place to Noj with CB pulling up the rear.

So Robb was right when he said you get what you pay for and to save up your dimes and nickels to buy a Noj. 

I ordered a Noj Dubrovnik II in red stain before this thread came out.  I am now glad I did.

Take it easy, Mike.

Unlike you, I am not in the business of buying and selling Chess sets.  I buy my sets to play Chess with and am not a collector as you and some others are.

I'm not bragging.  I simply looked at the photos and analyzed the details of the manufactured pieces from the different companies.

I have no personal bias in one company versus any other.  If I did, I think my bias would be for The House of Staunton as that is where the vast majority of Chess sets I have purchased and still own come from.  But, in this Dubrovnik discussion, I have not leaned towards HOS. 

Looking at the pictures it is obvious and evident the quality of the Noj sets is far superior to the others.  I don't need to own a set to look at and observe the quality of the wood turning, carving and finishing of the pieces, especially in those photos.

I have commented before that the Noj sets are the most expensive by quite a bit.  And I was not going to buy that red stained set from them but from CB.  Then the problem of the stain "bleeding" came up.  CB has not publicly handled that problem to date.  I then read Gregor's post on this forum and realized that they most likely will not produce these sets forever and what they do produce is in limited quantity.  So, I pulled the trigger and decided to buy my red stained Dubrovnik set from Noj instead of CB.

I understand from reading your posts in that CB Crimson set problem that you are unhappy that people have posted and/or continue to post about the "bleeding" being a problem.  Do you have a vested interest in CB?  Why are you taking all this so personally?  You complained that people should take the "bleeding" of the stain as a normal to the set and quit complaining, sheesh.

And now, I post about how I see the quality difference between the sets and pieces from the three companies, and you say I am bragging because Noj does it best.

Well, I'm not bragging.  I also am not attacking you, personally, as you have done to me.

Peace on, my friend.

goodknightmike, the topic of this thread is "Comparing Dubrovniks", I would think that would allow a discussion on the different qualities of the sets? Instead of attacking Eyechess for having an opinion, why don't you just share your opinion on the sets and let everybody else make up their own minds. As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

In order of preference: 1) Noj, 2) HoS, 3) CB. I was able to compare my HOS ebonized to a friend's 3.6" CB set and preferred the HOS (I haven't had the opportunity of comparing it to the CB 4" version). However, the natural maple on the Noj looks a bit bleached to my eye. Would prefer a honey hued stain.

I actually like the "bleached" color. If HOS come with their design but in NOJ wood colors I thing that will be the one that is perfect for me.

One thing I don't understand is why there is so few pictures of the front and back of the horse.

CGRAU

Is it posible to get the side by side comparation of the horses from front and back profiles, please?

Luft, Perhaps you're right, but the picture on the Noj website still makes it appear a tad 'bleached' looking.

Nothing wrong with the maple, I just prefer the warmer hue of boxwood.

Staying with the theme of comparing, I see that the House of Staunton now offers their Dubrovnik in Golden Rosewood.

In looking at the pictures of the different company pieces side by side I still cannot get past how the HOS and Noj sets look far more finished and detailed than the CB one.. This is really evident in the knight comparison.  There it looks as if the CB set still needs to be finished.  The other piece differences are more subtle, but stiil there and obvious.

Now, to mollify GoodKnightMike, the CB set looks fine all by itself and it is by far the least expensive set.  You do get what you pay for, or you do not get what you do not pay for.