Ebony or Ebonized?

That is true. QG was a great series and did well for promoting the game of chess. But it ruined things a bit for us who like chess equipment. 

I agree Powder on most. I also buy to use my sets and don’t really care of resell value. The only part I somewhat cannot agree is the increase in value. Rare doesn’t always translate to value, but I think for you and me that shouldn’t matter too much as long as we keep playing chess. We’ll get the value from the use.

Well, I don't sell my sets (yet), even though most of my sets are second hands and cheap still all little things adds up. It wouldn't be the first time I have to sell my collection of something because I needed the money and it's nice to know if my collection in this case chess collection holds it's value and perhaps become more in the future. You never know when the 7 years of bad break got extended.

My CB ebony set is 17% heavier than the boxwood white pieces (700 vs 600 gr) and I can tell the black pieces by holding them in my hands as they are heavier and harder.

Anyway I could not see any stripes at all, even with powerful led light or flash. They are jet black in natural light and show even brownish tint under strong light.

So I cannot see the wood grain on the black pieces but assume it's ebony they dyed black to look better.

Honest question here @Desperatekingwalk . How do you know your cheap set from 2000 isn't just lower grade ebony dyed black? It looks like they are chip/dent free so how can you tell what the wood looks like underneath the finish? To be honest they look identical in colour/texture to the sets I got from TCE which I was not impressed with, and I doubt that given TCE's carving quality they were using Gaboon Ebony. 

Don't mind the crud in the mane. Their polishing wheel was filthy and left all sorts of light coloured gunk on the knight. I dry brushed it as best I could to remove it.

Now this knight is Jet Black, has tight grain and was weighty. All the pieces I received from TCE were like this. Yet the carving quality is average at best and their other pieces had balance/finish issues. How do we know it's not just well weighted, tight grained and dyed black lower grade ebony? I don't think it's possible to tell unless one were to cut into it.

Here's the rest of the set:

No wear. Its a brand new set. Please read what I wrote and look at the body not the head.

It’s just black paint. It’s flaking off the brand new HOS “Ebonized” American Staunton set I just got onto my fingers.

Do you happen to have LED lights in your eyes? No! So who cares?

Some people here actually enjoy if their ebony pieces have brown inflections, as they rthink all-black is just dull.