BACKGAMMON - an introduction

Hand built for Champions, aficionados or just lovers of this wonderful game and those who appreciate items of great beauty & craft. Our Backgammon encompasses all that is Geoffrey Parker – attention to detail, our special skill of hand inlaying, our consultations with giants of the game over the years, the specially tanned leathers for speed of play and to withstand the rigours of late night gaming - all avenues have been explored to bring you the World's best in Backgammon.

Since we made our first boards back in the early Sixties, and being picked to supply the sets for the first recognized World Backgammon Championship on board the QEII ocean liner in 1975, to the recent televised World finals played on our boards in Monte Carlo in 2005 - we have held our position as the ultimate maker of luxury boards in the World. Constantly improving where possible and embracing new technology while keeping close to our hearts the craft traditions of the past so expertly displayed by our master craftsmen and women.

As Nick Foulkes wrote in GQ in January 2004:

"if his finest creation, the tournament-size Championship board, were a car it would be the Bentley Arnage T, super-chic, super-fast, in fact just plain super"

and commenting later in the article on our specially weighted leather stones/checkers designed with the help of Backgammon guru and former World Champion, Paul Magriel back in the Seventies, he goes on to say

"If Hermès ever made miniature air-hockey pucks, they would look like this."

There are 6 folding attaché cases and 4 non-folding table-top sizes from competition to travel, available in 3 different playing surfaces - our most popular being hand inlaid Dauphin calf leather (Championship, Contemporary and Prestige classes), super-fast finest quality Billiard Cloth (not felt which will fluff up over time) with leather inlaid points (Club Class) and recently introduced a beautiful marquetry inlaid polished wood veneered playing field (Mediterranean Class) for those who prefer a more "vocal" game.

Then in many of the designs there are a choice of 4 stones/checkers, from the Championship class being the full weighted leather mentioned above, to the hugely popular Contemporary class which is a stunning combination of nickel and inlaid leather. Our unique Prestige Class acrylic stones are traditionally flat one side, while offering a concave finger dish on the other. And lastly our Mediterranean class stones/checkers combine beautiful veneered woods with nickel to create a contemporary yet traditional stone/checker for those who like a more "vocal" game.

If that is not enough, you can choose gilt or nickel locks, to have contrast trimming to match your stones or point colours on the un-crushable hand bound leather dice cups - designed with the help of a former European Champion - complete with trips to prevent unfair play and lined in sumptuous suede to reduce noise and cushion the dice.

Our Competition and Tournament sized boards and those within our Championship Class are supplied as standard with ball cornered precision dice - offering a perfect balanced roll. A deep etched acrylic Doubling Cube is provided in our Prestige and Club class boards while the Contemporary edition has a giant 2"/51mm inlaid leather and nickel version while the Championship class has a full inlaid leather design.

We even include in every board a "Crawford-Jacoby" leather disc for identifying if either rule is in force for Backgammon or Choutte games. Also to save confusion between palyers, we inlay a cube position in contrasting leather colour for each player when the cube is "accepted".

To complete your truly made to order Bespoke board, we offer 12 vibrant colours of Dauphin calf leather - tanned specially with Backgammon in mind, the range of colours and almost endless possible combinations offer instant colour recognition in the subdued lighting one is often found playing in, allowing a fast speed of play. In addition each leather board is hand polished with our special slip agent before dispatch from our workshops to make these the fastest boards around. To protect against the strains of late night gaming in club atmospheres, there is a special coating applied to the leather during tanning to offer protection against wine spillage and tobacco smoke (to a reasonable degree) if dealt with quickly.

There have of course being many requests over the years for boards that are both unusual and unique in design - from a "blind" board made in the Seventies for American singing legend, Stevie Wonder, to a £250,000 Alligator cased and Shagreen inlaid board set with Diamonds and solid Gold for a private jet. A giant 3" stoned Velcro® wall hanging board was made for The Independant newspaper Backgammon expert to use as a teaching aid. Boards have been installed in all manner of places, from Palaces to Super Yachts and even in the arm rest of a Formula One team's private jet. The World's most luxurious casinos and gaming clubs use our boards for their "soft gaming" and VIP/high roller gift giving requirements.

When building an article that has had such a personal input from our clients, we of course offer personalization for the board - from simple initials, beautifully embossed in gold or silver or a message denoting a special occasion, to a company logo or family coat of arms - almost anything can be done to make your board your own.

Our aim is to try and achieve what the customer wants, not what we want to sell him - we've heard almost every request and like to think that we have been able to supply most, however unusual! As one recent customer said when being offered the many choices mentioned above "it's like buying a car".

For this very reason we do not offer an "e-store" as we like our clients to contact us so we can discuss their exact needs. As these exquisite boards do take time to build (from 6 to 8 weeks), we do try and make a small range of boards for immediate dispatch in case of urgent requirements, so please look at our "stock service" by clicking this link or the button on the above menu to view what may be currently available for immediate dispatch. We also have our "edited luxury" range of boards available within our Off the Bench collection, which are generally available from stock.

Please click on the following link for folding attaché cased boards or for table-top non folding editions.