A jewelry store in Augusta, Georgia, is showcasing an opulent chess set worth $1 million.
Photographs, lighting, appropriate music. These are all common ideas for embellishing a jewelry store and making it attractive to customers. The more upmarket retailers might splurge extra on their décor.
Windsor Fine Jewelers in Augusta, Georgia, has gone a step further, displaying a custom-made chess set it claims to be worth $1 million. It features carved wax models, gold adornments, and precious stones. Several websites have labeled it one of the world’s 10 most expensive chess sets.
Latest sale
The piece is the work of Jim Grahl, a designer renowned for intricate pieces such as the Balboa Park Carousel Egg, an opulent miniature copy of a popular amusement ride in San Diego, California.
Grahl completed the chess set in 1971 after receiving a commission from the Newport Beach-based Cole family. When the Coles were no longer alive, the set passed to a “prominent doctor and avid chess player in Massachusetts,” where it has been for the past 20 years, Grahl writes in a description of the piece.
It was recently on display at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in California. The current owner, a collector, is now selling it through Grahl. The piece hadn’t sold as of publication time, says Michael Zibman, general manager at Windsor Fine Jewelers.
“Jim Grahl and I go back to the early 90s as business [partners] and friends,” notes Zibman, who also facilitated the sale to the current owner in the early 2000s when he was working at another store. “He knows that I would market it and do what it took to try and sell it. And so when it became available again, he reached out to a few different people, me being one of them. I’m not sure why some of the others chose not to [showcase it], because I feel it’s a great draw for traffic and attention.”
European royalty
The figures are a mixture of cast and fabricated and contain 10.79 pounds of 14-karat gold. The original carvings and construction took four people around a year to execute. No restoration work has been necessary, according to Grahl.
The artist modeled the characters’ appearance on 13th- and 14th-century European costumes, aiming to represent a mixture of nationalities using book research and “a bit of guesswork,” he says.
The Nordic kings sport flowing robes, fur collars and beards, and have tiny diamonds on their crowns and scepters. The queens are Spanish with “almost a bit of Roma flavor,” possessing long hair, simple crowns, and “gently flowing robes” that lend them “a feminine presence yet a royal stature,” according to the designer. They also hold orbs — one jade, one pearl. One king and one queen have rubies hanging from their necks, while the other couple has sapphires.
The bishop is a stern Anglican, while the French knight has a slight “Templar presence,” he adds. The rook loosely imitates Falkenstein Castle in Germany. The pawns are based on Welsh foot soldiers, holding crossbows and wearing chain mail and leather. The board is burled wood with leaded glass etched in black and white and comes with adjustable LED lighting.
Intricate design
How did Grahl avoid it looking like a tacky gimmick? Mostly because it doesn’t have a futuristic feel and isn’t just a gold version of every other chess set, says Zibman.
“I think it’s because of the design and because of the historic influence that it’s unique,” Zibman continues. “It’s not over-the-top in its look. But once you realize what it is, it is over-the-top because of the detail in the design.”
And it’s more than just an ornament: Zibman is “sure” the current owner has played chess with the bejeweled treasure. Still, he says, none of the team at Windsor Fine Jewelers has sat down for a game yet.
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