A wonderful chess set combination of contrasting woods. The board is handmade in Italy, constructed from briarwood and elm veneers and finished with an extra thick coating of deep satin lacquer. The briarwood burl has amazing depth of grain with really seductive patterning that holds a number of different shades of colour. Rich yellows follow deep reds, follow rich red browns. The inlaid veneer squares are bordered with an elegant strip of ebony that sections of the playing area from the edge. The underside of the board features a lacquered wooden veneer and has felting pads to protect surfaces underneath. The Sicilian series chessmen are a wonderful interpretation of the Staunton design. They have been expertly carved by one of the world\'s finest wooden chess piece makers from graded rosewood and boxwood, each piece being double weighted. There has been no compromise in the design or manufacture of these fine Staunton chess pieces - the consistency of the carvings, uniformity of size and the matching of the wood tones is all first class.