Which company makes the best chess sets?

I made my comment on google in chess forum belonging to chess.com and it appeared on here. 

Dear All Members,

My greetings to all,

I have read more of discussion about the best selling chess manufacturer in the world and i have noted many of my friends have wrong perception about chess industry in India and manufacture .

Let me introduce you first about myself ,

I am Malkeet Singh now retired person but earlier I was trader of chess products and supplier of my European countries till 2004.

Amritsar chess industry where I have purchased many chess products from almost everyone and I must say you can buy anything . All the international companies like chess house , house of Staunton, official Staunton , regency chess company, wholesale chess , chess store and every western company buy every single product from Amritsar city in India and all above companies may be buying 1/4 th price of actual price.

Real Manufacturer in Amritsar city.

Amritsar Ivory works & The Chess Empire is one company and same owner .

Staunton castle:

Pleasant times

JS art

These are only main manufacturing companies in Amritsar in which

JS art owner was working as helper craftsman inside of Amritsar Ivory works or you can say today’s name The Chess Empire and owner of Staunton Castle Mr Bhupinder Singh my friend was also working as knight carver under Amritsar Ivory Works for many many years.

Pleasant times is also a manufacturer of chess .

There are many other small manufacturers who are working in their home and supplying to exporters .

Pleasant times owner is Jaswinder and they are making chess sets but they also sell many other products on cnc but as I know the owner is more concerned about other products than chess.

I have also met Mr Frank camarratta of HOS at Amritsar Ivory Works office in 2004 . All chess sets at HOS till 2008 were produced by Rajesh ( Bawa Ji) and his sons Rishi & Gaurav who are handling all the business . Rajesh told me once that HOS company is cheating and giving his creation to other manufacturers for cheap price.These guys are making chess sets for Jaques of London  and now they are very well known in chess industry as discovery channel has also made documentary on The Chess Empire.

Staunton castle is my friend Bhupinder and he use to make knights for The Chess Empire and his son is also involved in business and they are working for many companies and now his son has settled in Canada and they are now outsourcing many designs from small manufacturers and also running with 4 to 6 workers.

JS art is known for production in Amritsar and his one son is settled in Canada and another is also planning to go, he is currently working with HOS and now he is old and reducing his business .

Other manufacturers: There are more than 50 more small manufacturers who are working for exporters in India and not well paid by them but somehow they are earning bread and butter.

Chess bazaar: I am not much in this line now but as per I know from my old friend that chess bazaar is in Chandigarh who is buying from many small manufacturers who are working in their homes and some others but they are not manufacturer at all.

This all above information is 100% correct which may solve many questions in your mind.

Regards

Micky Singh

Micky Singh I have been trading out of amritsar over 20 years and never heard of you, although I know everyone else you mention. 

Collectors on here understand the main manufacturing hubs are based in amritsar and they also know who is who. My own company has 1 manufacturer permanently making sets for us, we also use a further 2 very large exporters....

Thank you for your input 

Strange. New Account. No Games. Straightaway to this post. Very Strange.

Mohan ji- I do not play online but sometimes with my grandson and friends. I was reading about chess and saw this post and many other interesting posts on chess manufacturing and chess sets.

I will try to keep writing my views and also play game if necessary. I found many wrong perception regarding Amritsar manufacturing companies. I hope my information help not everyone but many people here.

As I worked many years not as manufacturer but as a trader & exporter of chess & Jaipur handcrafted products from New Delhi.

i am still in touch with these manufacturers as a friend and this is the fact that everyone has to know about Amritsar that there are only 4 main manufacturers.

pleasant times( Chess & cnc sculptures)

JS art ( know for production work )

Amritsar Ivory works & The Chess Empire is same .( 3rd generation company & known for high standard products)

staunton castle- ( knights maker & these days outsourcing as son is now settled Canada )

&

Many Manufacturers working home.

 I will share some old photos and also I will find photo with Mr Frank Camaratta in 2004 at The Chess Empire factory where they are discussing about new designs.

I hope you will enjoy them and I pray everyone safe and well.

My Best Regards

MickyS 

Noj seems to be making the best chess sets although very pricy.

Noj Chess sets are unique and different from pretty much all other sets, no matter where they are made.  I am not saying that they are the only best sets, just a unique best.  I have some India made sets that are of the best quality.  It’s just the way the Noj sets are made makes them a unique best.

I have tried to figure out just what it is that makes them so.  I own 3 Dubrovnik II, a Dubrovnik Minceta, a GM Pavasovic, and a BCE Stage 2, Eastern, Walnut with the Stainless steel bases sets.  So it is not only the Dubrovnik models that are so distinctive.

The woods Noj uses are properly aged. They also only use 2 types of wood, European Walnut for dark pieces and European Maple for the white pieces and dyed for dark pieces.  This makes their pieces more consistent in wood quality.  The finish work done gives this unique and very nice finish to the pieces that you do not see in other sets.

They also use very consistent and not too heavy weights in their pieces. This gives that exceptional balance you will often read about from people that have actually handled and played with them.  Pictures cannot give you the sensation of how these pieces handle and feel thanks to the weights and exceptional finish work.

Yes, the Noj sets are expensive.  There are other sets just as expensive, but the design of the Noj sets are simpler making one want to compare them to other, less expensive sets.  I think that the small number of sets they produce is a big part of the high price.  And you will find that people who bought and own a Noj do not complain about the cost, even though they admit the high expense.  The ones complaining about the high cost all seem to be people that do not own a Noj set.  I believe this is because the pictures are not enough to tell the quality.

I own some very nice sets made in India that also cost more.  These can also fall under the category of best Chess sets.  I know that the 4 or 5 India made sets that I find of the best quality have been made by some of the manufacturers MickyS mentioned.

I would not say that the Noj sets are necessarily nicer than my nice India produced sets, just a different nice.  And I believe this goes back to the type of woods used and the weights.  I feel the better wood carvers from India do just as nice work as Gregor and his brother and their father.  They are just using different materials that will give their pieces a different handling and feel.

Perfectly articulated!

Depends on what type of set we are talking a out. 

I'm not really a collector but I have acquired around a dozen wooden chess sets over the years, and the NOJ set really stands out from the others in terms of quality and feel.  Just my two bits.

Please give us more specifics.

Hey people! <<deleted by mod>> reason.... chess.com has its own online store for chess books and equipment. Using this forum to benefit your online store as you put it is not allowed. 

Dennis Peterson sells some great chess sets

Companies that have consistently produced high quality sets include Staunton Castle and The Chess Empire.

From my experiences....Staunton Castle and H.O.S. were superb,but the Gold Standard was and is Noj.

I agree with @Magictwanger. I have sets from SC, HoS, and Noj. In the past, HoS sent me some sets that required replacement. It was no big deal. I sent an email with photos, they sent replacements no questions asked. I will add Oleg Raikis to the list even though I don’t have one. Oleg sets are above and beyond.

If I can add some additional input,based on buying 22 full size sets from various sellers we all probably know of.

I have had my issues with C.B. however they can and "do" make some very fine sets.The problem with them is consistency. The 1940's Reproduced Soviet Club Set (if you want to,pictures can be found in the Show Your Chess Sets thread) might very well be the most incredible set I own.....This version was made a few years ago and I don't believe that C.B. is still using the same carver.

Just my two cents.

Your 1940 set is a favorite of mine. I think I first saw that set posted by @CGrau or @Goodknightmike. Loved it since then.

I agree, I bought that set from CB a few years back and had not one complaint. In fact, I was surprised by the quality.

I agree....The thing is,many folks start out with the more affordable vendors (I did) and some move to the better quality suppliers as time goes on...Not everyone,obviously and that's perfectly fine.

My reason for moving towards the better companies was, I had just way too many hassles with C.B. Don't get me wrong! I have some very fine sets from them but, after a series of poor pieces (cracks,off colors etc) and the incredibly poor communications from them,I just decided to move up the ladder a bit. Please don't send me advertisements every day and "then" tell me my E-mail address doesn't work,when I lodge a concern about an issue using the same E-mail address.

Like everyone else,I'd rather have saved money,but I'm not a fan of "consistent" aggravation!

Ex: I literally paid extra for two Latvian Knights,because their replacements, due to cracks,did not come close to the originals.Both in color and sizing.....Instead of arguing,I just sent them the money for the new ones.Kinda' fed up with that company after that.

I'd still buy from C.B. though....They have some nice chess sets.