Parker, 3.75" Burnt Boxwood

Description

Luxurious, lustrous looks - that's the character of the Parker chessmen, but with no hefty price tag attached. True, we are not talking of rare and expensive wood like ebony but these pieces will take your breath away: The black pieces are burnt to give the boxwood their deep dark colour and a layer of lacquer gives them their irresistible shiny looks.

All pieces have delicately made base sockets with a criss-cross pattern and in the same colour for both black and white. This set shows a very nice artistic touch in that both colours (black and white) are used on both sides - there is no such thing as true black or white with these pieces. Needless to say that the knight is as usual the centre of attention with his finely crafted mane and the teeth, showing off fine handicraft. However, other pieces reveal some fine decorative touches too, even the pawn. Special attention should be given to the rook which got even a pattern to its battlements.

As both kings are made from boxwood, they share the same weight of 63g each - quite heavy for a king of only 3.75" height. Even the queens bring a nice weight of 53g on the scale. The king's base diameter of 1.6" suggests the ideal board has squares of 2" or slightly above (that is 50 - 55mm). Despite these chess pieces belong to our mid-range category, they come with double queens - something normally just found at more expensive sets. Not only does the lustre win one over, but despite its modest price tag, it really shows the attributes of luxurious chess sets.

If you want luxury without its price tag and don't really need rare woods in your chess pieces to justify the purchase, then the Parker set is the ideal choice. It closes the gap between nicely crafted mid-priced products and the high-end side. The lustre it gets from its lacquer makes the Parker a real eye-catcher and could easily be mistaken for a much more expensive chess set. You won't be disappointed!