Alternative sets

I love stylish chess sets, and am now thinking about an interior design scheme to accomodate a couple of great sets that I discovered on a trawl of the Internet this afternoon.

The first, a Sandstone chess set, 'Nature Does Battle', created by Balinese artist Daniel Wijaya, has the pieces inset onto sandstone pebbles. It's small but exquisite.



The second, the Auto part chess set, 'Rustic Warriors', is part of a series by Mexican artist Armando Ramirez. It's a completely different beast made from recycled car and machinery parts: it boasts a 5.7 inch king and weighs in at over 20lbs.




They are both available online from Novica.com, a store run in conjunction with National Geographic, that sources its products direct from artisans around the globe. They have a large number of different sets and if you hurry are offering a $10 discount to new customers, quote discount code: NOVICA243.