Berd Vay’e has created a giant chess set made from its Lucite sculptures filled with watch movement parts.
Pieces range from the pawns, standing 12 inches high and costing $7,500 each up to the kings and queens that are 17 and 18 inches tall and cost $10,800 each.
To buy an entire chess set of 32 pieces would cost $272,000.
Each sculpture contains 1,500-2,000 vintage watch components.
Berd Vay’e founders, Eddie Kurayev and Albert Akbashev’s were fascinated by chess from an early age growing up in the former Soviet Union.
In Russia, chess isn’t just a board game or a sport, it is a way of living, and one of the most predominant activities in Russian households, schools, and playgrounds. “Chess is a mind game that requires time and strategy. It is very complex, like the foundations of watchmaking. Growing up, it was our favorite sport and pastime, the way baseball and football are in America,” says Berd Vay’e co-founder Eddie Kurayev.
The chess pieces come in a collection called Checkmate, but are sold individually and limited to 999 pieces each.