Review - Elite Series & Aristocrat Series chess pieces from Staunton Castle

First of all, thanks so much to the many enthusiasts that have posted reviews of chess pieces and chess piece manufacturers on these forums. After much research and deliberation I'd narrowed my search down to a few companies whom I've listed below:

- House Of Staunton
- Chess Bazaar
- Staunton Castle

I also want to be clear that I did investigate other retailers (often claiming to be manufacturers) and I could almost always trace their roots back to chess manufacturers in Armistar, India, where I'd estimate almost all of the quality chess pieces discussed on this forum come from. The exception being Noj based out of Slovenia, which is likely the highest (relative to production) quality chess piece manufacturer in the world.

Reviewing user experiences on this forum, The House of Staunton by far seemed like the safest bet. Despite the excellent value that can be found from Chess Bazaar their product quality seemed extremely hit and miss, and my own communications with them left me feeling unsure if the potential risk was worth the reward.

Feeling not completely satisfied by Hos's prices and Canadian shipping rates, and feeling equally unsatisfied with CB's offering, I started looking for other venues which eventually led me to Mandeep Singh (Saggu), AKA Mandeep Handicrafts, AKA Staunton Castle. Mandeep Singh is one of the most renowned chess craftsman in India. His father Bhupinder Singh, was also a highly respected chess craftsman. In fact, Mandeep used to be the manufacturer of Official Staunton, a highly coveted chess retailer on these forums. I also suspect that he has done work for HoS as you'll see below.

It's worth noting that Mandeep's current company, Staunton Castle, was and is licensed to produce high quality chess sets for a number of retailers. The fact that Mandeep is now selling directly from his own company is likely to severely p*ss off his retailers, and for good reason! For someone like me though, if I can go straight to the source that's exactly where I will go.

Oh, and here's something you don't see every day. The actual manufacturing process of chess pieces made by Staunton Castle (Mandeep Singh)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WJoR9QH12k

Communicating with Mandeep was relatively easy and he replied quickly, pretty much exactly the opposite of what I got communicating with Chess Bazaar. As I was ordering multiple sets and chess piece cases I was able to negotiate more competitive rates with Mandeep directly.

With everything agreed upon I e-transferred money directly to him, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. When the order was ready I was sent a tracking number for the shipment which was sent through FedEx. Incredibly, I received the parcels in less than 5 business days! Although shipping was free I did have to pay a small duty fee to Canadian customs.

The sets reviewed below are paired with a JLP Queen Anne chess board with 2.25" squares. A thorough review of this chess board can be found here: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/jlp-queen-anne-21-hardwood-players-chessboard-2-25-review-chess-house

Ok, on to the actual review!

Elite Series Premium Staunton 4" Chess Set (Genuine Ebony)

https://www.amazon.com/Elite-Premium-Staunton-Wooden-Pieces/dp/B07HH4VJCM

HoS comparable

https://www.houseofstaunton.com/the-cremona-series-artisan-chess-pieces-4-4-king.html

I'll let you speculate as to why both sets appear to be identical and why the HoS set is on clearance.

Sizing for this set is listed as 4" with a 1.75" king base. Measuring from the felt to the top of the finial I got 4.25" with the base measuring at approximately 1.65". So it looks like they have some work to do with respect to their sizing.

It's fair to say I was blown away with the quality of the set.

Aristocrat Series Premium Chess Pieces 4.1" (Genuine Padouk)

https://www.amazon.com/STAUNTON-CASTLE-Aristocrat-Tournament-Boardgames/dp/B06WRSYZHJ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Staunton+Castle+Inc&qid=1551844843&s=gateway&sr=8-1

HoS comparable

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

Again, sizing was slightly off, which was welcome in this case as I had requested a smaller King base (if possible). Sizing for this set is listed as 4.1" with a 1.875" king base. Measuring from the felt to the top of the finial I got 4.35" with the base measuring at 1.75". While the smaller King base size was welcome, I would have preferred a shorter set overall.

For me, the Aristocrat set was even more impressive than the Elite series

Pros & Cons for both sets

- The wood grain finish and polish on the Ebony pieces show through subtly, and evenly on all of the pieces (white knight bases being somewhat inconsistent, see pictures). The same can be said for the Padouk pieces which really pop without being overly bright.
- The machining uniformity on all chess pieces is pretty good. There are no areas where there are major shifts in color. Vertically, all pieces appear to be at, or extremely close to a 90 degree angle.
- The consistency in the hand carved pieces, especially pieces like the knights, is done masterfully. No noticeable imbalances with regards to how the pieces are carved
- The weighting on all pieces is distributed evenly and proportionally, and match the luxury of the set adequately. No loose weights.
- Whatever varnish they use for finishing the pieces off is perfect. Not too glossy, and not too matte. The boxwood knights of the elite set needing a little more polish and varnish to them.
- There are no major blemishes or imperfections to be found anywhere. There were no chips and discolorations that I could see. There was no oxidization noticeable and the sets were clean of residue.
- The value for dollar spent speaks for itself. Incredible value.
- For the price the case is also great value. It appears to be actual leather and is padded. I could not imagine storing the pieces together in a box. The finials on the kings and the mane on the aristocrats knights would likely see some damage over time if stored in a box.
- The satin finish on the inside of the chess case appears and feels luxurious and does a good job of differentiating the contrast of the chess pieces.
- Shipping is free world wide sent from Fed Ex and duty rates and very, very reasonable. My parcel came from Armistar India to Toronto in less than 5 business days! As they offer free shipping at their cost they could choose to ship from a cheaper distributor but choose not to cut corners.
- The pieces were stored and shipped in their accompanying cases so I could be assured they would fit. This was also beneficial to Staunton Castle as it allowed them to save on shipping, so win-win.

Cons
- My biggest gripe with both sets are that the white boxwood knights show a noticeable difference in the sheen of their bases and their accompanying top housing. This was more noticeable on the Elite series and not as much of a concern on the aristocrats series. Ideally, it would be nice if the knights were whole singular pieces and if the sheen was uniform throughout. In fairness to the manufacturer this would likely make carving, sanding, and polishing the knights much more difficult.
- In the same vein as above, the turrets of the rooks should be more highly polished. Both the knights and the rooks are remarkable looking but there is still room for improvement. This is a flaw endemic of almost all chess retailers so I don't want to discourage potential buyers too much. My guess is that, as with the knights, it's highly inefficient to hand sand and polish these pieces manually.
- Structural pieces separating the top and bottom portions of the knights could be cut to more exact measurements

- The white boxwood king had some minor blurring where "Staunton Castle" was imprinted on the rim
- A buffer (like the provided Styrofoam) is required between the top shell of the chess piece case and the housing for the top pieces to prevent excessive movement of the chess pieces. This should probably have just been provided by making the top shell of the case thicker with padded material.
- The Certificates of authenticity were a nice touch but the sets should be listed on them.

So to conclude, I would absolutely recommend Staunton Castle to any prospective buyer looking for quality hand made chess pieces. Based solely on value I think you'd be hard pressed to find a sets of similar quality at the same price. I am overjoyed with the pieces and Staunton Castle have exceeded my expectations. I hope that this review helps others looking for alternatives to some of the higher priced vendors out there.

Mdero, Thanks for the great post—certainly worth waiting for. 

I have three questions for you:1) What did those cases cost?  Would you buy again? Good space efficient storage system? 2) The Staunton Castle links went to amazon—-did you buy thru amazon or directly w SC? 3) How do you feel about the Paduak color on the Queen Anne Board. Both have beautiful coloring but are the good together ?  Thanks a million for sharing, once again. Dfndr

Hi Dfndr,

The cases can be found here:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Staunton-Chess-Presentation-and-Storage-Box-for-4-Chess-Set/233142160438?hash=item36485b0c36:g:LJgAAOSwp7RbhDi7

The only issue I have with the case is that the Padouk knights need to stored on a bit of an angle due to their large mane.  Despite that, at their price, I would definitely recommend them.

If I had to choose just one colour specifically for the board it would be East Indian rosewood (dark brown) however Padouk does look very good.

Hope that helps!

What do you think of the Staunton Castle Bridle Series Premium Staunton 4.4" Chess Set in Padouk wood.  Only $218.50.

Do you have a link Dfndr?

Sorry, I tried but don't know how to do it. Both the Bridle 4.4 and the Columbian 4.4 are on CS ebay.  Does that help?

Found them.  

Colombian

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Colombian-Series-Premium-Staunton-4-4-Staunton-Padouk-Chess-Pieces/232892486070?hash=item36397951b6:g:uRkAAOSwYFtbdWz0

Bridle

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bridle-Series-Premium-Staunton-4-4-Chess-Set-in-Padouk-wood/232963532331?hash=item363db5662b:g:HSEAAOSw1w5bwNtT

I prefer the look of the bridle but I'll say that the height and king base are too big for a 2.25 inch board.  You could maybe get away with 1.875 (technically illegal) but coupled with it being 4.4 inches high, I would try something smaller in my humble opinion.

Since I know you're looking specifically for Padauk, I'd speak with Mandeep about these sets:

https://www.amazon.com/Attica-Premium-Staunton-Chess-Set/dp/B07CZSCLHY/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=staunton+castle&qid=1552958663&s=gateway&sr=8-19

https://www.amazon.com/Elite-Premium-Staunton-Chess-Set/dp/B0721Q192S/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=staunton+castle&qid=1552958663&s=gateway&sr=8-21

https://www.amazon.com/Staunton-Castle-Regal-Wooden-Chess/dp/B071V8D89C/ref=sr_1_24?keywords=staunton+castle&qid=1552958663&s=gateway&sr=8-24

https://www.amazon.com/STAUNTON-CASTLE-Aristocrat-Tournament-Boardgames/dp/B06WRSYZHJ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Staunton+Castle+Inc&qid=1551844843&s=gateway&sr=8-1

The Elite series set is the most ideal set for our Queen Anne boards based on size alone.  Keep in mind that the height of my set was actually slightly larger than they had listed and the bases were about .1 inches smaller.  4 inches @ 1.75 inch king base is pretty much perfect for a 2.25 inch board.  Some people would actually even suggest slightly smaller than that.

Hi, I hope you got my long PM yesterday afternoon.  To be clear, I love that Columbian set and would probably buy it with a case if Mandeep treats me right.  I am also not opposed to buying the smaller Attica set also with a case but don't want to spend that much on a set that does not obviously look like the red rosewood.  If it looks like brown Indian Rosewood, I don't want it.  Actually, I like the look of Indian Rosewood and will probably buy one but not that expensive of one. Look forward to hearing from you. dfndr

Hey Dfndr.  I sent him an email.  I expect I'll hear back shortly and then I'll include you in.  Please message me your email address privately.

I received a wonderful chess set today all the way from Amritsar (I live in Cambridge, UK); it took less than a week from order to unwrapping each perfect piece from the presentation box. It's from Mandeep Singh at Staunton Castle who designed this set - the Danum in ebony & boxwood. I've just written & posted a full review with photos on here. In brief, the set far exceeds my expectations in terms of craftsmanship and quality. My thanks to mdero83 whose review encouraged me to contact Mandeep directly. Thanks to Mandeep for coping so patiently with all my questions and for delivering such a beautiful chess set so efficiently. I'm a perfectionist, so I've inspected every piece - I can't find a flaw or blemish anywhere. There's a quality of meticulous craftsmanship at Staunton Castle/Mandeep Handicrafts that is very rare.  

The Danum from Staunton Castle

Got a set of the Strachan Series yesterday from Mandeep/Staunton Castle.  It's gorgeous!

Wow, that's a really nice and interesting shade of white. I have only seen that in NOJ sets and he uses maple for his white pieces.  

For comparison.

My latest SC purchase for comparison. Both pictures were taken with the same phone,  well my phone, but your set is definitely closer to NOJ coloring that SC own Dubrovnik.

Just FYI, I ordered a set (Danum Series) from Staunton Castle 17 days ago and have sent several unreturned emails to Mandeep asking when the set will ship, etc.  He does not respond in any way.  I've had to dispute the transaction with my credit card company.  Beware when you attempt to purchase from this guy.  

If that is true that is very disapointing to hear.  I have contacted Mandeep and have asked him to comment here for transparency.

I ordered the same set (stunning isn't it?) on Jan 25 and spoke to Mandeep a couple of hours ago. I had a short list of requests/expectations and he answered immediately with reassurance. I'm not concerned because I know he's busy with many orders. It may take a while to get my order but I'm patient. 

Hi, I just saw that one of my customer is facing the problem that I am not responding his emails. To my dismay I just wish to say him that I could not find any email from this buyer. I also have live chat option on my website. I request to the buyer that he can come on live chat with me. I always try my best to respond to my buyers as soon as I receive their emails. As far as our orders are concerned so I am already requesting to my buyers to give me extra time to ship their orders. Due to Queen’s Gambit drama we are receiving high volume of the orders.
As I have a limited number of Artisans working in my unit that’s why we are getting delay to dispatch our shipments. I again request to that buyer to please come at live chat with me my website so that I can check the exact status of his order.

Thanks

Many thanks for your appreciation for my work Sir.

If you want this set, my advice is to be patient.  I ordered a Nathaniel 1849 set in boxwood & ebony from Staunton Castle's ebay store on Dec. 26th.  The projected delivery was Jan. 15 - Feb. 3. 2021.  I knew they were unavailable until the New Year (per their message on ebay), and likely extremely busy, so I didn't bother trying to contact them.  The shipper's mailing label was created Jan. 19, package was picked up by DHL on Jan. 21 and delivered to me Jan. 27, well within the projected delivery time frame.

Dude,  i've tried that live chat option and waited for 10 or 15 minutes with no response.  I sent you an email today.  I was the one who was saying "please don't make have to dispute this on my card and start complaining on websites about you not responding."