The Messina Gold and Briarwood Luxury Italian Chess Set

• Expertly crafted in Italy.
• Gold and silver plated.
• Exquisite detail.
• 3 inch (76 mm) king.
• Weighted for perfect balance.
• Bases covered with billiard cloth.
• Beautifully crafted 16.75 inch board from Italy.
• Outstanding quality briarwood and elm.
• 1.55 inch playing squares.

Rarely does a set of chess pieces shine so brilliantly as the Messina Gold and Silver Plated Italian Chessmen.

They share their name with the port city of Messina, Sicily, where for centuries merchants would compete to sell their imports, with the brightest, most exotic looking produce often attracting the highest bids. It is fair to say that, within the Regency Chess Collection, nothing catches the eye quite like the detail on these pieces.

The intricate pattern imprinted upon precious metal is breathtaking on every piece, while a number of ornaments also hold loads of character. On the rook, for example, vine engravings reach up to a superb turret, while the queen wears a corset of silver or gold that holds the bottom of her crown.

With such care taken by our Florentine craftsmen on the back row pieces, players can be forgiven for overlooking the pawns, despite the fact that they also display an extraordinary amount of delicacy in their ornamental design.

Before any of these remarkable added touches are made, the mildly Staunton shape of these chess pieces is moulded in the Italfama workshop in Florence, Italy. These moulds are exclusive to Italfama and are made nowhere else in the world.

Our product team at Regency Chess in Frome, Somerset decided to match them with a this luxury Italian 16.75 inch Chess Board, also from our craftsmen in Florence, to create this superb all Italian Chess Ensemble.

Outstanding quality Briarwood and Elm veneer chess board and finished in quality lacquer, the wood grain and knotting of the Briarwood looks simply sublime with a rich depth of tone and patterning that can only impress. The inlaid veneer squares are bordered with a thin veneer of Ebony that sections of the playing area from the border. The underside of the board features a lacquered wooden veneer and has felting pads to protect surfaces underneath.