Reproduction and Real Jaques of London Chess Set

With Alan's name on the set and it will be on the certificate I still think it will command a bit more money just like having a Frank C signature set commands more money.  Yes you would have to be blind to see the nose on the knight of the set is different than what the prototype looked like but when they make more sets maybe they will tweek the knights a bit and let you get the other 4 knights for cost, that would be nice.  

All in all it is a different set and maybe will be referred to years to come as the Dewey 1849 Jacques a pedigree in its own. Nothing wrong with that. 

Possibly, but as I noted, I have seen some of those early Frank C signature sets go for far less than a new HoS set costs. For that reason, I would not buy any modern production set hoping for it to become more valuable; I would buy it simply because I liked it.

I agree, but there will come a time when there will be a moritorium on Ebony and the value of Ebony pieces should increase correspondingly...just like what has occurred with Brazilian Rosewood and guitars. Having said that, I only buy chess pieces that I like and find interesting, and I rotate them...that is, I play with them for about a month at a time then put them away until it's their turn again. 😀

Hello Guys,

Just ordered the 1849 beautiful chess set at a great price of $349 including shipping. A very well proportioned pieces and nicely weighted at approx 79oz. I really love this set and the striking antiqued boxwood of the light pieces. Just check out the pictures on their site of this gorgeous set for your perusal. For pricing, when I spoke to CB live chat they said that they will not offer any kind of discount or coupon code for this chess set. May be the reason is that this chess set is exclusive & they will have very limited stock of it. According to them, next lot would be out after Christmas. So for sure they will not offer any discount on this chess set due to excessive demand & exclusivity.

Lastly, according to my observations rooks, queen, king & bishops are identical. Pawns are a bit thinner. But for the price I have paid for, I'm happy with it. Now excited to get one in my hands. :)

Congraulations Robert, welcome to the 1849 club!!

Thanks mike.. :)

How many times I have found this argument latly... the thing is that in that case anything ebony is collectable and will be valuable on the future. But in that case then we are not collecting chess sets, we are collecting woods. Asuming that ebony will be hot on the future, and no ill related with enviromental uses, or something like that, that will give it a negative tone.

To make the accurate view of chess pieces CB provides a 360-Degree view which will give a realistic view of their J.Jaques. Just check it out this link : http://www.chessbazaar.com/j-jaques1849/

 I didn't order it to keep it for 10 years and make money on the set. All I believe is that this will be a very collectable set and I do like it. It is massively weighted and it looks like it has a great finish on it.  in fact when I get it I was going to bring it over to the club but don't think I will get it in time for the next meeting. It's fun to play club members with different sets that either they bought or I bought. Last month I had the privilage of playing with a repro Pinney set and really liked it.  No one has yet to bring in their Dubrovnik set!! Variety is the spice of life.

@Robert  Nice set isn't it and congratulations. Like Alan said it is to be played with and that is exactly what I will do with it. I get no pleasure to put it away in my closet forever.  I wish my grand son who plays chess would live closer instead of 2000 miles away. 

If that were the case, we would expect all ivory sets to have shown an increase in value, but as far as I've seen, the pricing and collectability of ivory sets is related to the beauty of the carving, their rarity, and the name of the manufacturer, not the mere fact that a set is made of ivory. There are plenty of cheap ivory sets around. Likewise, there are thousands of ebony chess sets for sale on Ebay every year, and I can't see them all beoming valuable if the harvesting of ebony is banned. In any case, from what I've read, there is plenty of ebony available, it's just that it's not completely black, but given that there's a long history of chess sets being dyed, this shouldn't be an issue either.

Thanks mike... :)

I think that the HoS Morphy knight is the closest match to an early Jaques , but it is also much more expensive: got to pay for quality. Also, have you guys noticed that the slit in the bishop's mitre in the prototype has a round bottom, much better looking than the one on sale (in my opinion at least)?

Thanks for the link.! The Knights really look ok to me after seeing that view. It is priced right for such a large set. I don't think anyone will be disappointed in this set. As I remember, there were a few people bashing the Dubrovnik Knight also.

Congratulations to everyone who ordered this set.  I think it is beautiful and resonably priced, considering it includes shipping. And just in time for Christmas! I will be waiting for the 3.5 version as all my boards are 55mm.

I think the quality of this set matches what you are talking about in the Morphy knight set. It is just the design that varies.  Anyways no one is forcing anyone to buy a set.  To each his own.

The Morphy 4.4" set is "only" $949 just a mere $600 more to get a knight that looks a little more accurate and a different mitered bishop.  To me I wouldn't get another $600 worth of enjoyment out of it. Also add another $100? for stamping at HOS that brings it up to $700 more. 

Spot on Wiscmike.! After looking at Robert_ Philly's post of the rotating pics The Knights look OK to me. I still do not know how Robert got that..? I could not get that rotating scene.! A good set at a good price IMO even though I do not like the size. Personal prefference by me.

@wiscmike

it was just a consideration, did not mean to discredit the CB set. I just think that the quality of the carving of the knight in the Morphy set is higher (is not only a question of design really, IMO), and that probably explains part of the higher price.  the same for the bishop, just a question asked for the sake of discussion, I thought that's what a forum is for.

I agree that the set is a modern interpretation, but I was talking about the knight, it looks to me very close to an early jaques knight (have a look at the picture) and it is smoother.

Sorry Paisano, didn't mean to come across harsh. ANyways how are things in Italy, my parent came from there. Have many cousins and relatives left behind I will never get to know or see. I was hoping to travel to my Grandfathers once home in Roccamonfina.

Now I know why they loved chestnuts so much as the region they grew up in was surrounded by sweet chestnut trees.  The winter wasn't winter unless I smelled chestnuts roasting in the oven. Of course in the city we had the fig tree that looked like a grave in the winter as he buried it in a burlap bag below the frost line.