Henri Chavet Guide

It always has that hybrid feel, a combination of chavet and the German Knight.

High likely made by didatto, Italy. 92mm KH you don't see that often, you see more the library size set around 76mm in folding board cases. Always 2 woods, boxwood and rosewood.

I do not think this is correct.  Clearly these are written as ref numbers on some original boxes?

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chavet-wcc-sets-1990-2000#comment-32179928

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chavet-wcc-sets-1990-2000#comment-32128982

https://preview.redd.it/gcgunbqxmn261.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f75f0154f3f04d2c7bbf8d19da0f1ea19aea0c0

I have seen many other examples...

Do you think the Didatto set might be as valuable as the Chavet set, although I'm going off-topic with this.

I asked Mr. Chavet the question. He still has the game order mail for the 1990 WCC. B210 is not there, and he never listed his games that way.

For my part, I have never found any box with this kind of label in France.

And every time I see one, it's on ebay, in England...

You don't have to believe me ;-)

Ink tends to fade over time, you can also write whatever you want.

I suspect there is a distributor/importer who used this codex. Not sure why they didn't just use the factory codex, this is one of the Chavet mystery again. 

No, it was a budget/mainstream set. The company itself, it's a toy manufacturer that sells various toys besides chess sets. Here in the Netherlands there was such company that also sold localized version of French set, it was called Revanche. It was also two woods set, boxwood/rosewood.

What would you think then, would be a good price to buy a Didatto rosewood set with a 93mm King?

@Walterbiensur

I am familiar with the references you are showing as well, I just assumed they used both.  But now I did some digging around and look at more labels, it raises an interesting question.  Why would they use two reference number systems on labels that seem to be across the same periods?  Also the hand writing on many of the b numbers does not look 'factory' to me (i.e. the penmanship of someone writing hundreds of labels over and over again).  Whereas the other reference numbers looks as if someone writes these things all day.  Very curious.  I think Michael's thought about a distributor using this system makes sense.  And perhaps an owner here and there with a faded label are scrawling what they think the correct ref is as well.

I have a question, I think this has been pointed out before.  What is the current theory on sets that are essentially a No6 or No8 Chavet but with 'other' knights?  I have a few sets like this.  None are labeled with Chavet boxes, but based on piece pattern and the way they've been finished they appear very much like Chavet sets to me.  Was Chavet sending out sets with these 'other' knights with plain boxes to be rebranded or sold by some retailers?

What Mr. Chavet also told me:
initially almost all manufacturers had identical knight.

Chavet then created the knight you are referring to. Lardy copied this knight and even offered to Chavet to make them for him, which he refused.

At the beginning of the 70s, he created with his father the one-piece knight, which will have several transformations over time.

At the end of the 1980s, when Lardy went bankrupt, he bought the machine from the Lardy knights, which he still owns.

These famous knights are from Chavet. By observing them correctly, we can recognize them. Their base is shorter than the Lardys, while all other pieces are the same as you'll find in a game with Chavet knights.

example : Lardy 6 on the left- Chavet 6 (1980) on the right.

Have a look at this one: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-chavet-staunton-chess-set-3759875564

Made by Chavet yes. I have the older 85mm version.

 beachero a écrit :

 

A number 5

And here is what I observe on Chavet boxes for export.

@Walterbiensur Thanks, this has been my suspicion for a while as well.

In https://www.ajedrezeuropa.com/piezas/130-660-staunton-europa-caoba-mate.html#/69-piezas_europa-45 you can see what I think is the Spanish version of a Chavet set, called in this shop "Modelo Europa". 

Eventhough the knight has some similarty with Lardy knight, I really like what Chavet did with keeping the base wide. 

I forgot to specify that. The game is referenced as a 343. On the left in version 6, on the right in 4 and in the middle, the intruder cut like a Christmas tree

Here is the size 6 unleaded I bought last week at Rouge et Noir in Paris. The seller said they had many QC issues with Chavet (one pawn was chipped in one of the two size 6 sets they had for instance.) They get 2 sets in s6 per month, production has slowed to a crawl. Chavet's son at 70 seems unwilling to invest in the machines to get things going properly again (the shop offered to invest in some machines but Chavet refused.) They won't be weighted anymore because it's too much work, and they lost staff

apparently. Even the felt is added by the shop...The box says nothing about Chavet. 

Beautiful set though, the flaws are very minor (some machine marks on the knights). I am getting an indian 'repro' next week, I shall compare both...

Large ball top Queen and blind Knights. That is indeed a new, modern Chavet size 6. Upon close examination, if all the pieces are straight. Count your blessings. Hah! Love those swirls. No Indian reproduction will have that. 

I mentioned in another thread that these Chavet size 6 sets are still in production, but another member contradicted me and said it was not true. Although I speak a little bit of French, it's not nearly good enough to carry a conversation. So I did not follow up with Jura Buis and just let it go. Here is the original thread. https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chavet-size-6-95mm-3-75in-king-is-officially-back-in-production?page=1

If you purchased the Chess Empire reproduction, it is based off of the Chavet B210. It is a Chavet Size 6, but a slightly different style. It'll be nice to see your comparison nonetheless. Start a new thread so it doesn't get buried. Good luck!