House of Staunton Review

I also own a HoS Grandmaster set and it is fine.

I also have never had any problems with their service.  If I did receive pieces that were damaged or flawed, all I have ever done is to call them and they always replace the pieces.

Now, if you don't like the design then that is another matter.

I love my HoS Capablanca ebony set except 9 of the pieces cracked.  I asked them for a quote to replace the cracked pieces and the quote was about $300.  I asked them for a discount since the set was fairly new.  They basically told me to go fly a kite.  They would not guarantee the replacements would not crack also.  The set is stored in the box in my climate controlled house.  It was disappointing dealing with them.  You would think if you are selling $500+ chess sets you can manufacture them to not self destruct.  That being said if I could get a set that would not crack I would probably buy another.  To be fair this was over 10 years ago when I dealt with them so maybe it is better now.

As an edit both the boxwood and ebony pieces cracked not just the ebony.

Mostly all wooden sets are made in India. I think humidity is more of a culprit than temperature but humidity and temperature are related. I believe  HOS has their own proprietary weighting system that prevent or deter cracking but just on the top chess set/s. You would have to ask them what sets contain that. 

I think the Capablanca ebony set was a premium set.  At least at the time.  It was $500 to $600 well over a decade ago.  I think I bought in the late 1990's, but as you can tell from my rating I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Ha.  

If the wood is dry before use and not subject to large humidity swings it should not crack.  I suspect the wood was not dry before use.  Think of all of the wood furniture, floors and cabinets in your house.  Are they cracked?  They shouldn't be.

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Many years ago, just after starting playing Chess I bought an Ebony set which cracked.  I was heart broken.  I decided to never buy Ebony again.

We are dealing with wood here.  When a good number of pieces are made of Ebony it is inevitable that some will crack.  Yes, the proper aging and all is important but cracks will occur nonetheless.

I remember when the Capablanca set was first released and indeed it was one of Frank's luxury sets.  After a number of years any retailer will no longer carry exact duplicates of the original pieces to offer as replacements.  Note that I said retailer not manufacturer.  And the manufacturers of these Jaques reproduction type sets are in India.  The retailers buy from the manufacturers and when that inventory is sold, it is gone.  The House of Staunton, Official Staunton, The Chess Store, and every other retailer that is not based in India is a retailer not a manufacturer.

I had a Noj made Walnut piece that chipped after 7 years of owning it.  I figured there was no way to get a duplicate replacement after all those years.  Well Gregor who is the manufacturer as well as the retailer proved that wrong.  I sent the broken piece to him and he matched the Walnut and the piece details exactly.  When looking at the set no one could ever tell that the whole set was not an original.

The House of Staunton sells the most Chess sets, period.  And all of those sets they sell are from India.

I have had only one set develop cracks (knock on wood } and that was some of the light, boxwood pieces of a HoS Zagreb 59' set in Blood Rosewood and Boxwood.  I sold the set quite inexpensively and bought a Sheesham (HoS calls it Golden Rosewood) Fischer Spassky set for under $150. 

No other sets that I own have cracked and I own well over 35 nice wood sets from HoS, Official Staunton, The Chess Store, Wholesale Chess, The Rochester Chess Center, The Chess House, and of course Noj which is the undisputed best.  But remember Noj is in Slovenia, not India!

I realize the majority of this post is related to pieces, but it is possible to buy solid wood, raised playing surface boards at a relatively moderate prices. Key word is relative...

You might want to check out this site. Prices are about half of HOS’s price, and the quality is “identical.”

www.custom-wood-creations.net

I realize there is a possibility of ebony cracking.  Out of the 9 pieces I have cracked 4 of them are boxwood.  On top of that telling a customer to pony up $300 for replacement pieces on a chess set less than 2 years old is not a pleasant customer service experience.  If HoS would have offered assurance the new pieces (with proper care) would not crack I would have gone for that.  As it stands I have a $500 chess set that is all cracked up with no way to remedy. 

I was responding to the thread title offering my experience.  Mine experience was not positive.  It was a long time ago.  I still have the set.  It bugs the crap out of me every time I set up the board.  Maybe I am OCD, but the cracks drive me crazy.

Cracks

I did over a decade ago.  They said $300 and the replacements may also crack.  Oh well.

Thanks for the info, but I have learned to live with it.  

Bad service is never good.  If they would have tried that on me I would have screamed bloody murder and demanded better.  I am sorry they did that to you.

Frank sold the business to Shawn Sullivan many years ago (2004 or so) and does not have anything to do with their business dealings.  Scott is no longer there from what they told me over a month ago.  Kevin is now the guy to call.  I believe he is something like a customer service manager, now.

The problem is inconsistency of the product.  And that is with all these retailers.  They are all stuck working with the manufacturers who are selling their stuff and thereby making it cheaply.

I know that the HoS Camarratta Signature sets are brought about by Frank and then sold by HoS for him.  This is why I bought my last 2 sets from them.  Kevin also pulled my last purchase and inspected it himself before sending it to me.  And I had not asked him to do so.  Frank actually gets the best woods picked for his sets and has a pretty tight contract with the manufacturer for high quality.

When I buy a set from HoS I would always call and talk with either Scott (no more now 😒)or Kevin.  This way I would get the best product at the best price.  With Official Staunton I have always corresponded with Carl so he would be involved in my purchase.  

I am pretty sure I purchased before Kevin or Carl were involved, but I don't know.  It is disappointing but you live and learn.

Oh the woes of chess consumers! I do feel for you though. I've had similar experiences with pieces cracking, but Carl was always ace with me, as was HoS. Having said that, it's just much more difficult these days to get any good product for decent prices anymore. The laptop I bought 9 (!) years ago still works and cost under 1k. Mind you, this is Europe, where technology costs more than in the States anyhow! Nowadays, you get those specced up Huawei laptops that are marketed like they are pure gold but fall apart out of the box pretty much straight away. Read some Amazon reviews and prepare to be amazed. Find me any laptop that is decent and doesn't have coil whine etc... That's why, for chess, I swear by Noj these days for 'nice' sets. Excellent service and craftsmanship. You want a knockaround set, get one for 20-50 euro from any retailer and you'll be OK. You want something premium? Save your pennies. More expensive, but you buy the peace of mind that comes with excellent product as well.

After a good amount of time buying and playing with Chess sets I now disagree that Noj is too expensive.  Yes they have high prices but you really get what you pay for from them.  The quality of their sets cannot be beaten.  Because Noj is Gregor, his brother and his father working part time and the fact that they also have a good business turning pens, you will not see a high volume of Chess set production from them.

So save your pennies and buy Noj and you will never be disappointed. 

Can anybody give me the link for Noj ?  I've never been to that site

https://www.noj.si

Thank you!

I thought they sold some other kind of sets, but what they make is that set which Bobby liked.  I respect other people's taste for these sets, but those are not sets I would like to own.

Currently, I don't own a Noj so I'm using it as motivation by telling myself "if I become USCF Expert, I'm buying a Noj". I've decided on the Dubrovnik II in maple & brown but am undecided on the king height. Originally, I wanted the shorter 91mm (3.58") king, as I think that's the size Fischer would use. But the king's base of 39mm (1.535") plays better on a 2" square board which is smaller than the 2.25" board that's common in the US. The larger 102mm (4.02") king has a base of 42mm (1.65") which is perfect for a 2.25" square board.

Ultimately, I think my decision will hinge on whether the set will be DGT-enabled. DGT boards are closer to 2" square so the short set would match it better.

However, with technological changes, DGT may not be the standard 50, 100, 200 years from now. I like the timeless quality of a non-DGT-enabled set so I'll probably go with the larger king, as it would match the US standard 2.25" squares better.

Your thoughts are appreciated, @Eyechess