For more than 30 years Italfmama have made arguably the finest metal chessmen in Europe, hand crafting every piece at their headquarters in Florence. Their sterling reputation prompted our first order and, since then, we have continued to work closely with an organisation that consistently demonstrates the same business values as Regency Chess; pride in service, variety and quality.
Together we have created a collection of Metal Chessmen that represents the ages of chess, travelling through Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance and into the Future.
Apart from the obvious aesthetic attraction, these chess pieces are most notable for their commanding weight upon a board. The Egyptian King, for example, is more than 250g while the Verona Series King is 118g. This organic weight comes from the solid metal makeup of the pieces, which are forged in Tuscany from either Brass or Nickel.
This Italian metal is so impressive that we consider it on a par with the finest Ebony, Mahogany and Golden Sheesham woods that we use to create our other chess piece ranges.
The quality is clear to see in the Maghreb Brass and Nickel 4 Inch Chess Pieces , where the angular King is covered with intricate patterning. With the Finnesburg Series every single piece has floral touches around the rounded base, which is protected on the bottom with the iconic red felt of Italfama.
Ironically, the fine detail of these metal pieces means that they are often used as ornaments rather than practical chessmen. However, they are extremely well balanced and certainly meet all of the requirements we set out for the other chess pieces in the Regency Collection. Each piece is housed in its own compartment inside the same green, branded Italfama box in which they arrive into our Somerset headquarters. Here in Frome we currently have a large stock of the Metal Chessmen and can send them out to purchasers within 24 hours.