Danum Series 4.4

TA-DAHH!! My Danum set from Staunton Castle arrived yesterday and I’m thrilled. The set is beautiful, the craftsmanship is exceptional and all the pieces are unscathed - except for one itty bitty rook. I think a wait of 4 weeks these days is reasonable so the wait time didn’t bother me. Of course a few pics are in order. At first I was a little ho hum about the ebony pieces. I was expecting a different appearance from non stained ebony. Under normal lighting they looked nicely black but under a strong light like my Luxo lamp they showed their true colors. I’ve managed to capture the lovely mottled colorings in these photos.

Ok about that rook. I need some advice as to what’s going on here. I don’t know whether or not this is the beginnings of a crack or just scratches. I ran my fingernail over it and it feels like a crack and it wouldn't come off with a Q-Tip. Is this cause for a replacement?  

That occurred to me as well. How could it be white? I'll give the fingernail technique a go. 

So here I thinking it's no biggie as long as it's not a crack when I discovered a crack on the bottom elsewhere running up into the base about a half inch. I was so focused on the obvious I missed the subtle. 

Congratulations. I am waiting for the same set in padouk. I think Mandeep increased his prices between your set and mine. :-(   I had ordered another set but kept looking at the Danum and finally switched my order. I love the ebony grain on your pieces. 

@RichardHG I love this Danum design. For me it just says Chess! I went back and forth between the ebony and the padauk. Both had their pluses and minuses. Now I have 2 pieces with cracks (the rook and the king) so I'll have to contact Mandeep about that. I think I paid the inflated price as well but with a small discount.   

A rook and the king. The King's a hairline but I'm thinking hairlines grow. 

I can only imagine your disappointment, especially after waiting a month. I feel your pain. I will be eagerly following what you report about Mandeep's followup. A question. I only have one other wood set, which I just purchased from CB. The inside of the rook's turret on that set and the Danum you purchased have areas near the base that do not seem to have been polished as well as other areas. Is that within normal? 

It's hard to polish there because the grain of the wood is facing up, so there isn't such a smooth surface. And it's hard to sand it smoother because it's quite a small space. You can make it look polished by adding more layers of varnish, wax etc but of course that takes more time.

Agreed. I seriously have no issue with the inside of the turret not being polished and in fact it would seem weird to have it polished. My other set (Punjab) from CB is (of course) also not polished. The Danum rook's turret looks neat and proper.

As a side note I'd like to add that this rook is a rook's rook in that it's design definitely represents a powerful primary piece - a tower of strength.

@Brynmr What a beautiful set. I don't normally like such ornate knights but they seem to have got the scale just right on those ones.

I really hope you get it sorted out with the cracked pieces.

Classy set mr Bryn! Sorry to hear about the flaws yes, hope it will work out soon.

Nicely photographed too btw.

Interesting. You may have something there. @Graham_NZ Thank you. I think it will go fine. I'm not worried. 

That color was hard to capture the way it looked to the eye. And thanks.

Without a doubt,that set is beyond gorgeous.....Makes me envious,because I have my eye on one more set(birthday's coming up) but want another Sonos Play 5 speaker and can't do both....Poor me... Right?-

Anyway,I think you should get a replacement Rook and have no doubt you'll achieve satisfaction......There is a company who manufacturers superb wax fillers,which are sticks of wax,in a zillion different colors,if anyone wishes to touch up their pieces.....Konig Tools Soft Wax........You'll get a replacement though,I am pretty sure.....Still,even with a subtle aberration that set is to die for!!

Enjoy.

I've never been fond of jetblack color as black pieces so I've never looked at ebony pieces. But seeing this stripes I'm beginning to get intrigued by this ebony wood. Is this striped visible under certain angle in daylight without the use of flashlight or sort-of?

Wow, that set is amazing!ove the wood grain of the dark pieces.  Do you guys all have personal photographers or was there a a thread on professional chess equipment photography that I missed? I have an Official Staunton ebony set that has very similar wood grain in certain lighting and close up but I was never able to capture the wood wood grain as nice as you have. 

Anyways, amazing addition to your collection. I will await to see the resolution of your damage pieces before I order a set I've been eyeing.

It also has to feel pretty good that it's out of stock....Obviously,many folks liked it enough to buy and It's not cheap..

Good score!

Yes by striped ebony I meant the natural ebony grain. That's a bummer alright, I was hoping it's still slightly visible in daylight. That's why I realy like tazmanian blackwood because it shows clearly the grain. I have one set in ebony coming in, I only ordered that because I like the design so much and it's only in ebony available.

Nice looking Chess set