House of Staunton Review - Dyed counterfeits.

I have seen plenty of House of Staunton review online - some positive, some negative. But something I have not yet seen - and believe deserves serious attention - is them selling dyed counterfeit wood pieces.

I ordered an expensive set (Savano luxury ') in blood rosewood. It was an imperfect item, at 60% for peel lacquer on a pawn and scrapes on a Queen. This description was accurate, and there were no craftmanship issues.

However, I found the blood rosewood pieces to be dyed after a little desk research: 

- A wet wipe easily soaked substantial amounts of stain of every piece, especially unsealed surfaces.
- The stain was magenta coloured, probably to combine with the wood's natural colour to produce a brownish red.
- The pieces had none of Pterocarpus soyauxii's natural pleasant odour.
- The knight's top can be screwed off. The wood was estimated to be too light for Padauk/blood rosewood's natural density.
- Colour bleeding is possible in small amounts as oil stains or in alcohol solvents. The stains were neither of these.
- My family and I found the chemical dye's smell sickening, and are leaving the chess set outside.

Requesting a return based on these explanations, I received the reply "In regard to the wood species, the dark army was indeed manufactured from padauk/blood rosewood." They denied a return "as per the listing", and did not care to elaborate or explain.

I did not expect this, given the store's high prices and apparent reputation. But please, other chess set buyers, pass this information along - I learnt this at a price, and do not wish others to have to experience the same.

This is a new account for me, so I cannot post pictures just yet. I will do so in a week.

Thanks for the reply!

I think it would be counterfeit for the following reasons:

- No natural scent of Blood Rosewood, nor the density

- The stain colour was magenta. If the point was to enhance the appearance, then a natural brownish red colour (on top of the 'lower grade' blood rosewood colour) would suffice.

- Given their prices, there should be no reason why they cannot afford preferable cuts of Blood Rosewood.

- If it is to be dyed anyway, using a complete fake would be cheaper.

I am no wood expert however, and would love your further thoughts once pictures become available. Thank you!

Would help if you gave a link ? A_Capybara_A

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-forever-collection-the-savano-series-luxury-chess-pieces-4-4-king.html

Oof, this is really concerning to read. I’m glad I recently purchased the Westminster set in ebony, because I considered rosewood. I came across Savano after my Westminster purchase, and was so impressed with the design of the knights that I would have loved to get it—and probably in rosewood—if not for the price being outside of my budget.

By the way, isn’t ebony much more expensive than rosewood? It puzzles me that the Savano set costs $80 more for the rosewood version. It made me curious about the prices of exotic woods, so I checked some exotic wood suppliers.

First to get one curious thing out of the way: I don’t think ‘blood rosewood’ exists. Any searches that come up relate to chess only. Could it be that the ‘blood’ part refers to the dye, rather than a type of rosewood?

I checked various sources and browsed Google Images to get a sense of what different types of rosewood look like, and haven’t found conclusive evidence that any of them are as bright red as blood rosewood chess pieces. Madagascar rosewood seems to be the closest to red, but even that is more brown than the chess sets I see. It seems to suggest that you necessarily have to stain it to get that bright red color. You do get quite bright red padouk though.

According to the BellForest Products website, I note the following prices for various exotic woods:

• Gaboon ebony: $150
• Macassar ebony: $100
• E. Indian rosewood: $70
• Honduras rosewood: $50
• Nicaraguan rosewood: $33.65
• Bolivian rosewood: $30
• Patagonian rosewood: $18

In my limited search, I didn’t find the prices for Madagascar or Brazilian rosewood, which seem to be some of the reddest rosewood. But the BellForest website describes Madagascar rosewood as similar in appearance to Brazilian rosewood, ranging from yellowish-brown to reddish-brown—not deep red. They may be more expensive, but it looks like rosewood tends to be much cheaper than ebony. It makes me wonder if House of Staunton is charging more for rosewood because of the labor involved in staining it.

By the way, on the Wikipedia entry of rosewood, there is a mention of a chess set made of rosewood, which it attributes to Dalbergia latifolia rosewood, also known as Indian rosewood. BellForest lists it as costing $70 as opposed to $100–150 for ebony species.

By the way, untreated Indian rosewood isn’t deep red either. I feel this is more evidence to suggest that ALL rosewood chess sets are dyed. Quite disappointing, as I always assumed the wood was just that red.

Upon realizing that there are various ebony and rosewood species, I have to wonder why the exact wood species is never mentioned by companies that sell chess pieces. You would think specific types would make them highly sought-after, and as a noobie collector of sorts, I think it’s really nice to know what type of wood your chess set is.

Which brings me to my final point. I think the wood type isn’t mentioned to deliberately obfuscate its source. Any rosewood other than Madagascar rosewood is far less desirable and far cheaper—and, as I just found out, the use of Madagascar rosewood is unethical, and the wood is incredibly hard to acquire, at a very high price. So here I have to take back my earlier statement about Madagascar rosewood likely being cheaper than ebony, just like the other types of rosewood. No, since Madagascar rosewood is an endangered species that is incredibly hard to get, its cost is very high. That would account for why House of Staunton is asking $80 more for the rosewood set than the ebony one.

But from from a marketing perspective, it makes sense to obfuscate what type of rosewood is used, because the use of Madagascar rosewood is unethical, and any other type of rosewood would not justify asking a higher price than ebony.

So yes, a cheaper rosewood was most likely used—at best Indian rosewood, which is quite a bit cheaper than ebony. Also, you mentioned that your pieces lack the recognizable rosewood scent. I could be wrong, but I read about the distinct scent of rosewood, which seems to imply it’s a scent common to all types. This could suggest that—besides the wood being dyed which I found out is a given—indeed the pieces aren’t even a cheaper type of rosewood.

I recognize there is quite a bit of speculation here, but I hope some of this information helps. I would be curious if you are able to ascertain what type of wood was actually used.

Based on my limited research into different types of exotic woods including various rosewood species, I actually doubt this to be the case. To get such a vibrant red, I think you might need magenta dye to counteract the more yellow-to-brown color of rosewood. Note the yellow-ish hues in this typical rosewood sample:

As the CMYK model below shows, you need to stain it with magenta to get vibrant red, and the Savano pieces seem to be a blueish red, so the magenta staining makes perfect sense.

From what I read, only Madagascar rosewood can be quite red without treating it—turning more purple with age. Most of the wood samples I’ve seen are considerably more brown leaning yellow. So the slightly cooler-toned red seems to be an attempt to simulate Madagascar rosewood specifically. It’s not clear to me if any chess manufacturer even uses Madagascar rosewood, since its use is heavily restricted.

Blood rosewood is a marketing term for padauk wood, from the genus Pterocarpus. Some chess vendors do call that wood padauk. Some are inconsistent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterocarpus

As the Op has not posted any photos , My Padauk set was a kind of red which gets darker over time , mainly due to day light + the sun .

This is true. I work with quite a bit of Padauk (instruments) and it is typically a bright orange upon cutting. It darkens relatively quickly to a nicer shade, without the brightness. My work becomes a very rich redish-brown with a slight touch of the orange-ness that fades away.

Ahh in that case one shouldn’t expect the distinctive rosewood scent from blood rosewood chess pieces.

Thanks for all your engagement! Especially to @WandelKoningin for the contributions...

In a previous email, House of Staunton said 'Blood Rosewood' referred to Padauk (most probably African Padauk, , which constitutes most of the Padauk available on the market). With some limited research on , it seems that Ebony should be much more expensive. My guess is, then, that 'Blood Rosewood' should refer to particularly expensive cuts of Padauk (colour, grain, etc.)

Some other chess websites use "bud rosewood" as a premium redwood. This apparently refers to wood cut from the base of the rosewood tree which is of much higher quality and value than regular rosewood. Perhaps 'Blood Rosewood' to Padauk is the same as bud rosewood to rosewood.

In addition, certain markets/populations seem to love red-coloured woods and value it highly.

The Wood Database mentions that Padauk has a "faint, pleasing scent while being worked". I did not notice this in the unsealed/unfinished King's finial.

@WandelKoningin I came across the Westminster set as well, and really liked it. Have you received the set? I was able to absorb stains from every single piece with a wet wipe. It took some forceful rubbing, but most of the stains came from the 'cracks' in the carving. Particularly exposed areas were the top of the rooks; the king's finials; and the middle of the knights (in my Savano set the top and base were screwed on, not glued).

Apologies for the lack of photos! They would really help, and I will upload them as soon as I can.

One more interesting thing - the tops of the knights have a much lighter colour than their bases/the rest of the set. This is curious - if it's dyed, then it should be easy to guarantee consistency. The pieces seem to be wooden in texture and carving, and should not be plastic/resin at least. I will upload pictures of this as well.

Yeah it seems curious to use padauk but charge more than ebony. At least the padauk BellForest lists are really cheap. I just checked various sources to see if padauk is or can be expensive, and I keep finding statements about padauk being inexpensive and easily accessible. One source mentions it as a moderately expensive wood (which it defines as $6–13 per square foot).

I feel this does hint at blood rosewood being an attempt to deliberately obfuscate the source (of cheap wood) and imply that it’s very expensive wood. I think only Madagascar rosewood would justifiably be more expensive than ebony. No other types of rosewood, nor any type of padauk. The wood database states that even with the increasing scarcity of African padauk, it should be moderately priced for import. Unlike any type of ebony, it’s also quite easy to work with. Accessibility, import costs, and workability should place ebony significantly above padauk in cost.

@A_Capybara_A Yes, I did receive the Westminster set, but I got it in ebony. I actually haven’t looked at the pieces yet. Maybe this was a dumb choice, but I decided to view it for the first time when my wife opens my gift for Christmas. Reading about quality issues with House of Staunton—even if they don’t pertain to ebony—maybe I should have a look at the pieces before Christmas.

> This is curious - if it's dyed, then it should be easy to guarantee consistency.

Does dye drip down? I’m not familiar with the process and what’s involved to get even distribution.

I agree with your point about obfuscating - one other possibility is the human effort required to select turns of wood to find matching colours and patterns. But in the end it does feel uncomfortable that they charge more for an accessible wood.

The dye does not drip - it is impossible to tell it is dyed wood unless you try to rub/soak the stain.

Some other brands sell chess sets at unbelievable prices. I purchased the same set/design from Official Staunton earlier, and negotiated a price of 199 pounds because the set I initially wanted was out of stock. It was returned because the wood was also dyed. I took a gamble with House of Staunton because of the comparatively astronomical prices and the brand's reputation (hoping it would mean genuine woods), thinking "if there is anything reliable on the market, this has to be it". At least the chemical smell does not seem as toxic/uncomfortable as the previous one.

The impression I have gotten is that many of these sets are produced by the same Indian artisans. House of Staunton asks higher prices for the same sets you can find for half the money on other websites, ostensibly because:

• They claim to have higher quality standards, and send subpar pieces back whereas other sellers may not.
• They use a proprietary weighting system that is said to allow for the expansion and contraction of the wood, which will prevent cracking in more brittle woods like ebony.
• I don’t know if this is true, but someone on this forum said that House of Staunton offers a lifelong warranty.

I gifted my wife an ebony set in 2021 from the Chess Empire, and all the major pieces have cracked at the side of the bases. Only the ebony rooks and pawns haven’t cracked. This same set is available for almost double what I paid at House of Staunton. Had I paid a premium at HoS, the ebony pieces may not have cracked—or if they had, HoS would have sent me replacements. I don’t know if that’s actually true though.

But I have been working under the assumption that ebony sets are worth getting from HoS for that reason; whereas with softer woods that wouldn’t crack anyway, I don’t quite see why you would pay double for what seems to be the same set—apart from a proprietary weighting system that you wouldn’t need anyway.

Without Photos it's very hard to tell your gripe  A_Capybara_A .

Mind you if you have paid this sum of money & you are not happy with the set then send it back + get a refund .

Pictures - as promised.
These stains were wiped off with a wet wipe (no alcohol).

I wish I could, and I requested it - but they did not allow it as the item was imperfect (no returns/refunds). They ignored my claims of misinformation/counterfeits.

@A_Capybara_A

In your photos, the grain, pores, and coarseness looks to be a type of rosewood.

Note that "Padauk wood is obtained from several species of Pterocarpus ... Most Pterocarpus[9] woods contain either water- or alcohol-soluble substances and can be used as dyes." [Wiki]

So you may simply be rubbing out the natural color pigments of that wood. Please stop using 'wet wipes' as they will damage the finish (I don't know of any 'wet wipes' that only contain water).

Thanks for the suggestion! I hope so - but I do not believe it is genuine wood with natural colour bleeding as per the desk research I did in the first post. This is based on the assumption that "Padauk" is "African Padauk", https://www.wood-database.com/african-padauk/. But in either case, wiping is harmful - and there's no point in doing it further.

The wet wipes I used are, I think, baby wipes - with only water and some essential natural oils. Theoretically, they should not be able to absorb natural stains - and definitely not in this amount.

One more question - is Padauk really a rosewood? It's marketed as "Blood Rosewood", yes, but Padauk is never referred to as a sort of rosewood. However, there seems to be other rosewoods in the "pterocarpus" genus.

Do not rub with baby wipe , just use a microfiber cloth , And rub lightly .It looks like you are rubbing of the wax ? Here's my Padauk side .

@lighthouse

I was not trying to clean the pieces - I was trying to test if the pieces were dyed. But agreed - a soft cloth would be better to care for the pieces.

The stains were definitely not wax - they did not have the texture and expected insolubility in water.

Your set looks lovely - where did you get it, if you don't mind?