Is it worth buying chess non-weighted for more durability?

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie here, I've been playing chess for a while, but this is my first ever post discussing the following things:   (before getting started I admit that I'm planning on buying a wooden chess set and I prioritize durability/ low possibility of cracking, I did research recently so my wood choice clearly not ebony)

1. Are boxwood/ Sheesham wood most stable in humidity changes? I mean are chess sets made from these materials have the least reports of cracking worldwide?

2. There are 2 chess sets I'm planning to buy for my graduation next year, they are made from Sheesham and boxwood, the sets are around 3.75 inches and 900gr/1050gr each, I have no idea is it weighted or pure wood? so I want to hear people's experiences.

3. Is it true that weighted chess sets raise the cases of cracking pieces regardless of material or environmental conditions? if so is it worth buying pieces through "non-weighted custom order"? 

4. And one more bonus question, I'm interested in chessbazaar's clearance items and some from Hos's clearance, but are clearance chess pieces good? flawless? or just lower quality wood with a lower price?

***Again, this is my first ever post, I have no means to raise an argument, if something I say is rude/ offensive, judge me and I appreciate it.

***I hope to receive some kind reply from you, thank you for letting me share some of my concerns

Non weighted chess pieces are flimsy and low quality, mass produced to sell cheaply for someone who will not give it any significant amount of use. I would get a triple weighted wooden set, 3.75" king height. Staunton style. That would be usable in any tournament. 1 good set is enough.

My first set was a "Clearance" item from Chess Bazaar. I would not say that any chess piece is truly "flawless." But the set had no issues. It was much better than I expected. I think CB designates sets that have flaws as "Imperfect Chess Sets." Although the clearance items appear to be sold as regular sets, CB limits its warranty on those items. If you look around this forum, you will see that some members have had difficulty with CB when trying to enforce their warranty.

in my opinion there is a difference between a nice wooden set, mostly for decoration or maybe for analysis or special occasions...vs a plastic set (which can also be nice) but which you can play forever and never really hurt it.

anything you take out in the world is eventually getting damaged.  it's just how the world is.  so, if you get a nice wood set, and you play with it, you have to accept that it's not going to last forever.  then, if you are lucky, maybe nothing will happen, but you can't worry if it does.

personally, i do have a nice wood set, and it mostly stays in the box.  i also have a heavy weighted plastic set, that a three-year old child would have a hard time hurting it, and even that mostly stays in its box, because i play online.

but the plastic set is the one i take with me to clubs, if i ever go to a club.

There are manufacturers like Noj who seem to hit the middle ground I prefer: lightly weighted. The wood pieces are not packed to the brim with lead, so even with wood movement, they will not crack. This is a good compromise to me. They are also not ridiculously heavy, so they are fun for both analysis and play, and will not tire your hand.

I find unweighted pieces a bit annoying to use outside or in quick matches, pieces fall all over the place.

The StauntonCastle set I have is insanely heavy, will be interesting to see how they fare.

A "clearance" set from a reputable vendor will not be damaged or defective - it's just been in inventory long enough with a low-enough sales rate that they're wanting to, uh, clear it from their books.  For vendors that have a questionable past WRT the actual meaning of English words, all bets are off.

All wood products are susceptible to humidity changes. This causes the wood to expand and contract. If the set is weighted then there is an increased chance of cracking due to the expansion and contraction of the wood materials around a solid piece of metal. Supposedly ebony is highly likely to crack. I don't remember the reason.

Also, unweighted sets are not necessarily cheap. My Noj 1950 set is unweighted. Bobby Fischer's Dubrovnik set was unweighted. Some antique Jaques sets are also unweighted. If I remember correctly, I remember seeing an unweighted antique Jaques set from Frank at one time. I believe it was one of the 1860s/1870s Anderssen sets he had.

Don't get caught up in things that rarely happen. I and most of the forum have bought wooden sets, had them for years, done nothing special to store them, and they are absolutely fine. Yes, there is a possibility of them cracking but the amount that actually do crack is a tiny fraction. Like any online review, they mostly are written by people with problems while those who are satisfied rarely post anything at all, so you only see the negative feedback.

Thanks, everyone for your kind and friendly reply. I appreciate this so much and cheers on your chess hobby.

triple-weighted plastic staunton tourney set here no complaints at all.   🙂