$10,000 (CAD) Chess Pieces

https://www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/collections/chess-sets/products/staunton-chess-set-leather-casket 

...no, I didn’t buy this nor would I ever consider it. I was curious to see what the most expensive set of pieces Jacques offers and this appears to be it (pieces + box combo). I have to say I’m really unimpressed with the presentation of their website, with respect to their chess pieces; Jacques is supposed to be one of the most prestigious producers of chess pieces and their chess section looks like an afterthought on their website; the pictures/descriptions are extremely basic, like something off of a shady Amazon listing. I don’t know who would pay $10,000 for chess pieces through an online medium like this. For the chessmen experts out there; do you think this set is worth anywhere near $10,000???? I’m not sure what you could do to make a wooden chess set justify this kind of cash, except maybe some kind of special provenance like being owned by a king 100 years ago or used in a famous tournament.

Looks nice but damn sure isn't worth it. If I wanted a 1849 Cooke, I'd look at those on officialstaunton.com, also a british company.

Seems like they're taking advantage of/marketing to the same people that buy big trucks and sports cars to make up for other aspects of their life that are "less endowed".  Not an educated buy no matter your lot in life.  

It looks so ridiculous expensive, it would be a moral crime to pay that much for a chess set.

I like chess sets, and I've spent a fair amount of money on old Jaques sets.

I don't see how they can justify £5K for this. I tried to find some more pictures on the web site but was unable to find any - is it just me?

hahahahahahahahaha 5k?

That’s what makes it so hilarious; they are asking $5000 GBP ($9000 CAD + taxes/shipping/duties; so more like $10,000) and they don’t even have photos of the set available!!

 

Did you read the blurb? These are "carved by Jaques master craftsmen" apparently. And they're only making 100 sets - which should be more than enough IMO. There's a few photos on the amazon site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009T2U9UQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=vishalgarg-21&ref_=pd_gw_cartx

Looks like "Jaques master craftsmen" can't get the tops of the pawns to be anything like spherical - and the set looks much like the sets made in Amritsar, India which are so plentiful on eBay and sold by multiple vendors.

There's a nice review on the Amazon site, which reads:

31 July 2018

 

LOL

That’s more than my tablet!🤯🙀🤨🧐

I would rather have bought an gothic chess set instead. The Capablanca Chess Edition - Reykjavik II Series for a fraction of the price. 

 

I would pay 700 euro for those pieces max. Official Staunton's Corky Staunton set is nicer and about 900 pounds I believe. Amazing stuff the marketing that some people will buy into. 

Here in the Netherlands a year at university costs 1900 euro. You could finance a full study programme on what you would pay for this lol.

LOL

The thing is, with *wooden* chess pieces/boards, it’s wood that is carved and stained, the material cost is negligible. The cost is the labor/skill required to turn/stain the wood; the greater the labor/skill, the greater the cost, however, after a certain point, the craftsman simply can’t do a better job. It doesn’t take more than a few weeks to produce top-of-the-line wooden chess equipment, which can justify $500-1200 (CAD) range prices; it doesn’t take 20 weeks of labor to produce this Jacques set of chess pieces (or any set of chess pieces for that matter). I don’t see how $10,000 could be justified for any *new* wooden chessmen or board, no matter how well-made, because this would simply exceed the production cost  by a large margin. As I mentioned in an earlier post, provenance (rare, used in a famous game, etc.) is the only factor I could see justifying this kind of cost, because it is subjective and can inflate the value (bidding wars etc.).