Real ebony vs. ebonized

Other than wearing, what are some opinions, experience, and insights on real ebony versus ebonized boxwood?

I prefer ebonised. I have several ebony pieces that is starting to crack after a few years. In addition, ebony is pricier and more endangered (https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/ebony-dark-outlook-dark-woods/) than its ebonised counterpart.

I prefer un-cracked ebonized to cracked ebony that is for sure.

Ebonized after some use often has lighter areas where the ink has partially rubbed off.  You can sometimes tell them apart by comparing how the wood grain looks but well done ebonized pieces realy are quite similar to ebony.

The similar pieces of an "ebonised" set should weigh the same, as all the pieces are made from the same wood - typically boxwood - the Black (ebonised) pieces are simply stained black.  On the other hand, ebony is black through and through and also denser (therefore harder) than boxwood - thus the ebony pieces would weigh more if all the pieces were designed and manufactured identically.

As BattleDuck mentioned, well-executed ebonised pieces are visually very difficult to distinguish from ebony.

@TakeThisPawn -

The short but best answer I can give is: without knowing a lot more data about the physical characteristics of the two Kings, it is not possible to answer the question of whether the Black piece is ebony.

Consider the following:

I just made measurements of the dimensions of the twp Kings in my only ebony set (the fact that the set is ebony is irrelevant for the purposes of this explanation).  First I measured the weight of each King using my gram scale:  Black=113.44gr & White=97.67gr.  Is this sufficient to make a conclusive determination?  Read on.

Next I wanted to determine if both Kings were carved/turned exactly identically such that their dimensions were identical in every respect.  For our purposes, since the Kings are circularly symmetric, it would be sufficient to measure the dimensions (diameters) of each King at the same locations along their respective vertical axes.  If these dimenstions are the same it would be safe to assume that regarding the exterior of the Kings, they would have been manufactured to the same dimensions and tolerances.  So I measured the diameters of my two Kings at the same locations along their vertical axes (using a vernier caliper, which is very accurate for such measurements) and discovered that although the diameters were close, they were not identical.  (Prior to doing his I had not discerned the differences that I measured, as upon casual inspection they looked the same to me except of course for color). 

The differing dimensional measurements of course imply that the volume of wood is different between the two Kings, and on that basis alone would account for their weights being different (how much different I can't say, as there are other factors still to be considered).

The next factor to consider relates to the fact that the bases of both pieces are hollowed out to accommodate metal weights.  This begs the question - is the amount of wood removed from the bases identical for both pieces.  There would be only one way for me to resolve this question (and which I am not about to do to these expensive pieces!), which is to remove the felt bottoms to see if the weights are removable (which they probably are not), but if they are, to remove the weights and fill the hollow cavities with water, then measure and compare the water volumes of each using a graduated cylinder to determine whether the volume of the hollows are the same (which, even if I were to do this procedure, I would be very skeptical about the volumes being the same).

Finally, what about the metal weights in the base?  Are they identical in the sense of being EXACTLY the same weight?  This would need to be determined.

So you can get a sense of what needs to be considered and verified/compared to conclusively say if both pieces were manufactured precisely and exactly to the same dimensional tolerances, as well as the metal weights being identical.

Given the tediousness of making the measurements I described, one might begin to think in terms of perhaps determining a way to visually inspect the internals of the wood of the Black King.  One possibility that comes immediately to mind is to remove the felt from the bottom of the piece with the hope that you could see inside the hollow cavity to determine if the wood is consistently black throughout the inside, the assumption being that if it were, the piece is likely ebony and if not, it is likely ebonised.   

I'll leave it up to you to imagine other experiments to try!  Good luck!

@sound67, thanks for the photo.  It definitely shows a difference but which of the two is actual ebony?  I'd guess the left is real but just to be sure...

Ah, thanks.  I did catch the "...more porous...." statement but my own dense-ness didn't allow me to make the connection.  ;-)