"KING ARTHUR" Swt from antiquechesscrafts (Boxwood/Padouk), 4.72" king's size)

I've gone on a bit of spree in recent weeks, one which is likely to end (for the time being) with this glorious, large, massively weighted "fancy" Staunton set from antiquechesscrafts (Etsy) in clean boxwood and bud rosewood (padouk), which is by far my favourite wood for black. Again, I'm following my predilection for fancy, but not too fancy Staunton sets.

Of course, as with most of these sets, the moniker is very random, but I do think that these pieces would truly befit the most famous king who never existed. The chararistics are the enlarged crosses on the kings, the Chetak-type knights and the fact that the upper ends of the bases are "embroidered".

As usual, the knights are the star of the show, and the manufacturer had sent me an image of just the heads in advance to compare the different materials:

The carving is wonderful (and not just on the knights), fully the equal of Staunton Castle, or - for that matter - whoever does them for HoS now. If you want to spend more just for the sake of it, feel for to do so. I just won't spend 700+ bucks on a single set.

What I love most about Padouk are the spectacular grains that you won't find on ebony.

The black king is 120g, the black rooks are 90g each, and the knights 84g.

Actually, I would need an even bigger board to properly show off this set, but it's very hard to find one with 64+mm squares around here, and shipping on those is expensive and often results in edges getting damaged during transport.

I now purchased 4 sets from this company, all excellent to superb quality, all under $300 each. Two fancy, too classic Staunton. Of course, the shop also carries the familiar Fischer, Latvian, and Zagreb sets. The shipping is quick and free (DHL, FedEx, or DTDC [=DHL Express India]), and the communication via Etsy excellent. If pieces should develop cracks over time, of course then it'll be the true test. No in-transit damages from antiquechesscrafts yet.