Reproduction and Real Jaques of London Chess Set

Always thought that the height of laziness - people who can't be bothered to wear out their own jeans

Maybe the yellowish color of the boxwood is not patina over the years but a yellowish boxwood itself? I thought I read that boxwood can be had with a yellowish color to it but not sure anymore where I read it. 

Patina yes you see it every day in older furniture and woods but it looks different to me. Could the older Jaques sets be made of something other than the whiter boxwoods that are used today in making sets in India?

I am not going to rehash how I also do not like this artificial aging and/or distressing of Chess equipment.

I note and am heartened that there are others who feel the same way as I do about this.

Many years ago (30+) a couple who are our friends we’re all excited about finding an “antique” table for their kitchen.

When we saw the table I commented to my wife that the table was so beat up, today called distressed, that no one I knew would want a table that beat up even in their basement or barn workshop let alone in their home.  My wife readily agreed.

Carl says that he finds a big market for this stuff.  Well, no one I know wants to play with dirty or otherwise beat up pieces.  But to each their own.

I own those and love them, despite the "antiqued" finish of the white pieces, which really isn't my thing. They are possibly my favorite non-Noj chess pieces.

However, the size information on the Official Staunton web page is wrong. It lists the set as having a king height of 3.95" and a king base size of 1.73". My set has a king height of 3.77" and a base of 1.695". I don't mind -- on the contrary, I much prefer a king height in the 3.5-3.8" interval to sizes closer to 4" -- but you may want to correct the information on the web site.

I believe that the old Jaques sets were made from European boxwood, and the current Indian made sets are of a different type of boxwood.

However, there is no doubt that European boxwood yellows with age (actually with exposure to UV radiation). Here is a picture of one of my spares, you can see the original colour of the boxwood where it's broken

there you go Ipswich!  a genuine dirty set!!  

I always thought the yellowish Jaques boxwood was what they call English boxwood that gets more yellowish and it is NOT all from patina so to say. 

May I ask how rare is this English or European boxwood?  Can it sill be used today? Obviously must be more expensive or the supply is exhausted???

It is still available - it's a slow growing bush so it's fairly expensive. I suspect it's more expensive than the stuff the Indians use. It's the same with ebony, there's various different types of very dark wood, I'm not sure whether they are all technically ebony, I suspect not

Maybe  add crooked king syndrome for authenticity too ?

As this can add to the Look & the Age !

The darkening is the effect of oxygen and UV light on some woods over a long time.  its a surface effect, not all the way through the wood.  With sanding and staining the colour can be matched at a point in time but the stained piece will darken differently to the other pieces.  In my limited experience it also seems to make wood more brittle.

It is available in small quantities, but is fairly expensive.  

And I would immediately clean that crud off the piece.  It's dirt and not patina.

Exactly my point. Even USED furniture bought at yard sales don't look that bad. I'd be embarrassed to have anyone see it, let alone display it. The only place that piece of junk would be worth having is in a workshop or some other place, but even there I'd probably break down and buy a cheap can of paint and paint it. It might be appropriate if you were homeless or lived in the ghetto, but spending good money on crap to pretend you are poor says you have severe mental issues that need to be addressed. 

A king height of 3.77" is a tiny bit taller than the STANDARD 3.75" set. Indeed for all practical purposed it *is* a STANDARD set which should be used with a board with 2.25" squares.

I get it Ron I really do! However, for the couple of collectors here who hate the effect, there are hundreds who love it! hence the huge demand. As I said though, we cater to a wide audience and we try to offer really well-made sets with diversity and at affordability. 

For a clean looking Boxwood/ Natural Ebony set then this set is perfection. Kudos to Corky Stanton, it was a pleasure to collaborate with such a perfectionist and gentleman. 

Absolutely. It's standard, and perfect. Larger pieces require larger boards, which are unergonomic for those of us who are less than 7 feet tall. I didn't mean to criticize those (very nice) pieces, I was just pointing out that the size listed on the web site is incorrect.

Why do so few vendors (other than Noj) use maple for the white pieces? It looks so much better than boxwood. It's weird that black pieces are available in lot of different types of wood, while white pieces are pretty much always boxwood.

That does look good that set. Only problem is the ball on the pawn does not appear to be round, but I guess that must be camera distortion.