and they DO HAVE A SMELL - 160 year old polish, the smell of cigar and pipe smoke, etc. leaves an "old" smell you often encounter in other antiques. Especially since the baize is a fabric, it tends to hold odors. Open a mahogany Jaques box from 1870 and take a good deep smell...its there.
Just had a go - I can smell something in the box, but not from an individual piece
....we have been bombarded on here, not just this post, no, many other posts too- by the moron stauntonmaster for many months, he is a frigging troll who is hell-bent on flooding posts with what can only be described as pure crap! no fact and almost all fiction, so he is not entitled to anything that can be considered as taking him seriously.
Quite right! Most everything he says is either incorrect or conjecture and should be ignored.
I never thought of feeling the felts
I never thought of feeling the felts
So then you would have felt the felt 
Hi Ron,
I guess I should. I just never thought to do it.
the moron stauntonmaster... is a frigging troll who is hell-bent on flooding posts with what can only be described as pure crap! no fact and almost all fiction, so he is not entitled to anything that can be considered as taking him seriously.
And yet, as far as I can tell, this once fascinating thread has degenerated into a never-ending argument with him. This is why so many of us have fled this forum like the plague and taken our discussions elsewhere where such utter nonsense is spared no quarter.
Ok, back on topic. I read the first dozen or so pages and it was an informative thread. For the seasoned collectors and restorer (chessspy1) what are some of today's best reproductions?
Hi Paul,
I don't know which are the 'best' reproduction sets. I like the ones I have seen for the most part.
I think if you are buying an Indian or Chinese made set then you will get a well made set for less than I can buy the wood for.
Ok, back on topic. I read the first dozen or so pages and it was an informative thread. For the seasoned collectors and restorer (chessspy1) what are some of today's best reproductions?
GENERALLY (notice the caps) HOS and *maybe* OS have the best reproductions as they tend to be on top of the Quality Control, but in my very, very *limited* experience, chessspy1 is correct *any* manufacturer be it HOS, OS, CB, et al so long as they stay on top of the QC is likely to produce and sell a High Quality Set, OTOH Jaques has gone to seed, yes they can still produce a High Quality set, but charge way to much even for they low end stuff, relying on their name.They provide certificates with the WRONG date, and other errors on it, that makes me wonder if they even give a s___ about the stuff they sell.
HOS is at the cusp of making a HUGE mistake IMHO by mixing junk made by other companies, with stuff that they make. I realize they are trying to turn a profit and I have no problem with that, but stuff made by other companies, should be segregated from the HOS products. As SM and others have rightly pointed out they is a LOT of junk on the market, and HOS would be making a mistake to have their name associated with selling JUNK.
In the end unless you happen to be like chesspy1 you buy a product from X because they are REPUTABLE, take PRIDE in what they sell, insist on stringent Quality Control, are INNOVATIVE, and stands behind what they sell. Once your reputation is GONE, as is the case with Jaques, it will take years to undo the damage. If I could take my time machine back to 1894 I would have jumped on an ORIGINAL Jaques set, but not today. Today they are trying to catch up with HOS and OS which are bringing to market NEW and EXCITING designs, as well as going back in time to produce EXACT replicas of Jaques' own sets. There has been not a single NEW Design from Jaques in ages, let alone any Innovation. They need to buy up their cheap sets with Certificates with the WRONG DATE, they need to take pride in their History, and they need to lower their prices on their top end stuff so they can compete with HOS OS, et al., and they need to crack down on their Quality Control for EVERY set they sell from low end to top end. Me?!? IF I buy a set -- any set -- I EITHER buy from HOS or OS. Given that I am NOT chessspy1, all I have to go on is a company's rep, and word of mouth, and the two names that keep coming up over and over are HOS and OS. For me personally I have 3 products made by HOS 1) The Collector Series set in Boxwood and Rosewood w /4.0" King (See pictures a few posts back) 2) A magnetic peg set in (I think) Boxwood and "Golden Rosewood" 3) Their PLASTIC Marshall set which is part of my "Ultimate Road Warrior" kit. I have probably sold more of those sets than I can count -- people who have used it simply love it, and ask me where I got it. Even a relatively "new" player who I am giving instruction too, I recommend he buy this set, which he did, and now people are raving about *his* set. Outside the old Drueke "Fire Plug" set, my Marshall set has taken a *real* beating, and still looks good 8 years on!!
There is only ONE more wood set I would like to buy at some point and that is the Eastern Staunton "Zagreb" style set. I use to play with one when I was stationed in Germany in the 1970's, and which I became reacquainted with during the 29th World Chess Olympiad that was held in Novi Sad Yugoslavia in 1990. I know HOS has one, but I have yet to meet someone who actually *has* one. The problem is there are so many sets of this style out there some of it is true JUNK, and then there are gems that play like a dream. If someone has one tournament grade size regardless of maker please let me know. Thanks
Thank you @chessspy1 and @azobobcat. Hopefully I'll be able to add a little to this thread as and post pictures of my purchase when it is delivered.
There is only ONE more wood set I would like to buy at some point and that is the Eastern Staunton "Zagreb" style set. I use to play with one when I was stationed in Germany in the 1970's, and which I became reacquainted with during the 29th World Chess Olympiad that was held in Novi Sad Yugoslavia in 1990. I know HOS has one, but I have yet to meet someone who actually *has* one. The problem is there are so many sets of this style out there some of it is true JUNK, and then there are gems that play like a dream. If someone has one tournament grade size regardless of maker please let me know. Thanks
AZ, if you are interested in buying an HOS Zagreb in rosewood with the original HOS storage box, please message me.
While the Zagreb pieces bear some resemblance to those used in the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad, they were not used there. In fact, the Zagreb pieces are not historical pieces at all, but a derivation of the Dubrovnik pieces that were marketed as if they were. FM Stefan Jovic recently sold a set from the 1990 event. It is pictured at posts 16 and 17 of the following link.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/guess-this-chess-set
Here are those photos.
Here is my rosewood HOS Zagreb for comparison.
The HOS Zagreb set is just splendid.
As I said earlier I love the Knights design !
Problem with Leningrad Chess set is the bishop, king and queen, rook and pawns have nothing to do with the soviet style and zagreb style chess sets. In fact, except for the knight the rest of the pieces are just normal staunton like the ones commonly used in chess clubs. It is an invented chess set which does not make much sense.
I Agree. Only the knight is 'Zegreb' style. But some people use to mix sets to match their tastes.
The Leningrad set is perfect for people who only like the Knights design.
There is only ONE more wood set I would like to buy at some point and that is the Eastern Staunton "Zagreb" style set. I use to play with one when I was stationed in Germany in the 1970's, and which I became reacquainted with during the 29th World Chess Olympiad that was held in Novi Sad Yugoslavia in 1990. I know HOS has one, but I have yet to meet someone who actually *has* one. The problem is there are so many sets of this style out there some of it is true JUNK, and then there are gems that play like a dream. If someone has one tournament grade size regardless of maker please let me know. Thanks
AZ, if you are interested in buying an HOS Zagreb in rosewood with the original HOS storage box, please message me.
While the Zagreb pieces bear some resemblance to those used in the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad, they were not used there. In fact, the Zagreb pieces are not historical pieces at all, but a derivation of the Dubrovnik pieces that were marketed as if they were. FM Stefan Jovic recently sold a set from the 1990 event. It is pictured at posts 16 and 17 of the following link.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/guess-this-chess-set
Here are those photos.
Here is my rosewood HOS Zagreb for comparison.
Yep those are the pieces we used in the 1990 Olympiad. Where in the world did you dig those photos up?!?
You are also right when you say that the "Zagreb" set is a derivation of the Dubrovnik pieces. There were regional differences -- basically the same set with slight regional differences. If I recall right the original Dubrovnik pieces came out circa 1948-52, and since that time has been redesigned, refined, and regionalized. It was a very common type set in Europe (at least until 1970-1973), and was a common sight through Dubrovnik back in 1990 with the set remaining more or less true to the 1948-52 design, with popular variations showing up the further out you got in the Ex-Yugoslavia. It was popular because it was relatively easy to carve, which is also why there are so many really BAD sets around. The more refined sets I used in Germany the early 1970s were a delight to use -- LONG before HOS was a glint in someone's eye. Club sets however tended to be unweighted. I had an open invitation, to attend a private German Chess club (a very RARE honor to be bestowed on an American in those days, that I was only able to attend twice, since I worked in telecommunications and frequently drew the Graveyard shift 
. ) and that was all they used. Better than many of today's CHEAP plastic pieces, still for me today it would be a disaster to use.
"LONG before HOS was a glint in someone's eye. "
I think Frank C started buying damaged set to restore and sell on to collectors in the late 1980s. He was certainly trolling round Portobello market to find old sets in the 90s
As were we all to be fair, it was just a matter of getting up early.
This looks bad but things will work out in the end for ivory antiques as there are non-invasive tests which can show the date and origin of the ivory on the horizon.
So what happens when you have no choice but to make up your own chess set ?
http://www.chess-museum.com/prison-camp-chess-sets-by-thomas-thomsen.html
To finish my thought above - maybe the "master" of this thread should consider banning advertising and ad hominem.