My new chess set

Just got back from a cruise to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico.  There are many, many shops and vendors selling chess sets in Progreso, and I noticed some in Cozumel as well.  I bought this set from a shop in Progreso.  It's made of marble and onyx and really caught my eye out of all the ones I saw.  The pieces are a sort-of kind of stylized Staunton and the board has the Aztec calendar etched into it.

We also bought a set like mine for my future brother-in-law in brown/black.  I'm not sure what the brown kind of stone is.

Beautiful stone.

Very Nice!

These are normal size sets, I think the squares are about 1.5".  The set I bought there many years ago is pretty small, with the board about 10" square.  It's also marble & onyx, kind of small to play with but makes a nice decoration set.

These new sets I plan to get some black felt and put on the bottom of the boards & pieces.  I think that would make them even better.

Agreed. The board art is amazing.

Nice Rooks.  I like it when Rooks are tall enough that they can easily see over the pawns in front of them.  Too many sets have little shrimpy Rooks that can't see what's going on around the battlefield.

Very nice set for decorative purposes.

I'm not sure if it's so nice for playing, as the engraved calendar is a bit distracting. The bishops are very similar to pawns, and the queens and kings also.

Are there 2 different sets, or is the lighting just different for the first and third photos?  I agree, the board in the first photo might be a bit much to look at intently during a game, but in the third photo it seems much more "stareable".

There are two different sets, one in marble & onyx and one in brown stone & onyx.

The stylized pieces probably wouldn't be kosher for official play, but for a friendly game they work OK.  The only thing is that you have to be careful of the bishops because they do look a lot like the pawns.  The bishops have two rings around their bodies while the pawns only have one.  I think if I made them, I'd have made the bishops with pointier heads.  I'm not sure if the people making these sets ever play chess or not.

They were $35 apiece. I probably could have talked them down a bit, but I think the lady saw how much I admired the set I wanted & wouldn't haggle.  But I didn't think that was a bad price to pay for a complete board & set.

very nice!