Drueke board question

Hello all,

I see some nice Drueke boards on Ebay from time to time. Is there a way to determine if its a vintage or new production board? 

There are no "new production" Drueke boards, except possibly a few made by Bill Drueke, but that info will be in the listing.  If I wanted to know the age of a board, I would just ask the seller.

The light squares darken with age, so that's one thing you can look for, but the board's design was stable for decades.

Another source for the Bill Drueke boards ---->>

http://www.druekegames.net

These boards look a little different from the originals and may or may not be of comparable quality.

I can speak for the two I have. One is from 1964 and the other from 1973. Both are genuine Drueke boards when they made a hell of a board. 

I own five original boards. The edges on the originals are beveled. Those on Bill Drueke's boards are not. That's the easiest quick signifier.

I don't know if this is allowed (i'm new and feel free to delete this if it's not). But if anybody is interested in parting with one please pm me.

Aside from the bevel is there any other way to distinguish between the vintage and the ones they produce today?

Just to be clear, the Drueke company is long out of business.  Most of the boards on Ebay are from the period when the company was making them.  One of the Drueke grandsons is a woodworker and has made some new boards, but he always clearly identifies that.  In my opinion, any of the boards produced by the company are high quality--at least at time of production.  Some come up on Ebay that have been knocked around and damaged, but many are very nearly pristine.  

The bevel feature is the clearest indicator.

You should also be aware that Drueke produced several different inexpensive boards, with the squares screen-printed on either particle board (thin) or plywood (thicker).  These are sometimes offered at a premium price, and they're not worth it.  They're nice for what they are, but they're not premium boards.

Yes sorry by new production I was refering to the ones produced by the grandson which seem redily available on ebay.

Firts let me make clear I am not an expert on this product, but there is few things I notice. Some of this info maybe is not 100% accurate though it is just my personal findings. However I like to trow out stuff like that because that inspires people to correct mistakes and so we get more acurate info.

The thing to consider is that we are talking about 50 years of manufacturing of chess boards, no counting what the Grangson is doing today, and this will mean some product differences.

The oldest boards will have a paper stiker while the newest boards will have a plastic stiker. The Paper stiker is small, just the size of the brand and will come on the back of the board over the frame the design of this stiker also will change over time, the plastic stiker is larger and will come on the back of the board over the squares and a golden branding on a corner.

I don't really know when they started doing the plastic stikers for the boards, I recall someone commenting this is when the company was sold the new owners did this rebranding. The new boards being made today doesn't have this stikers. And it is usual to find boards with no stiker at all as people remove them.

There was a very short time of frame where the boards where made with Aspen wood. This are basically the last boards the company made, as they have problems with the suply of Maple. So most of the boards are Maple-Walnut the late boards where Aspen-Walnut.

Here is a picture of the plastic stiker and corner golden branding on my board, notice also that this is Aspen-Walnut so not the "original" woods, but on the other hand the no so common to find woods:

So even though you can find boards made by the Company there is periods inside the company and that can means some differences.

Perhaps someone with an older board can show pictures of the branding?

David, thanks for the additional info! I need to modify my account so I recieve email notifications when the thread grows.

So, no branding from the factory or branding removed by the tournament personel?

What is cotume made about that board? in the picture it doesn't look any different than "regular" boards.

I have several vintage Druekes with various types of branding. I've been meaning to take some pictures and post them here.

That would be awesome, if you can show how the branding evolve over time.

I'm not sure I can do that, as I cannot really date my boards, nor do I have examples of various types of branding I know was used. 

Here is the first Drueke board I acquired, probably around 2000. Of the five I own, it may have been the last produced, as that was shortly after production ended. It has 2.25" squares. It's stamped DRUEKE in gold letters on the back.

Here's my 1.75" square board. It has the same gold stamping.

Here's another 2" square board. It lacks any stamping. It likely had a paper or foil sticker that a previous owner removed.

I've saved the best for last. My vintage 2.25" board. It has a gorgeous patina. It is marked by a beautiful etched Dreuke logo on the back. This really is my favorite board, and I have a few of them hanging around.

Part of the beauty of the game is the beauty of the pieces and the board.  I like the pieces you have with it!