[WTS] Selling Slate & Shell Stones from Kurokigoishi + Board

[chie]

Hey there,
in 2014 I bought a beautiful set of size 32 moon grade slate and shell stones from Kurokigoishi. The bowls are made from cherry wood. The board is made from 10 pieces of Hyuga Kaya and is about 6.2cm thick. Unfortunately I have not been playing for some time and I want the set to be with someone who enjoys it and uses it.
The stones are in great condition but the board warped and is not laying flat on the table. I attached some pictures.
PM me a reasonable offer and I'm sure we can come to an agreement.

Edit:
I got some estimations concerning the price. If you bought a set somewhat like this new today it would cost you around 80k - 130k yen. Keep in mind that these are rough estimates since
kuroki changed their grading of stones and pricing and each board is an individual item.

[chie]

Since I could only attach 3 pictures in the original post, I'll attach some more here.

[Galation]

Hi,
the set is very nice.

Can you tell us if you are based in Europe, or US (or else)
It's important for customs duties and delivery cost.

Can you add a picture to show the maximum warp perceived on a flat surface?
I have a tatami mat for goban and want to understand if it's enough to cover for the defect.

Any pawlonia box (goban, goke or both)?

Thank you in advance and break your leg for your selling.

[chie]

Hey there,
thanks for your reply. I'm based in Europe (Germany).
The board is warped in such a way, that one corner is lifted from the table and it rocks. I'm not sure if a tatami is sufficient to stop that rocking.
I will try to add another picture that shows the warping, but I'm not sure how clear it will be.
The only paulowina box I have is the one that the stones came in. It does not fit the bowls however.

[SoDesuNe]

Just for my interest: What grade does "moon" correspond to?

Kurokigoishi lists blue label, blue label snow, premium blossom and premium snow.

[Galation]

In the past Kuroki too used to classify the Mexican stones in 3 categories: Blossom/Jitsuyo, Moon/Tsuki and Snow/Yuki,
The moon grade being the intermediate level.

Here is the description in Sensei Library:

For stones made from clams harvested off the coast of Baja California (Mexico) the grades are Standard (or utility) (Jitsuyo 実用), Moon (tsuki 月), and Snow (yuki 雪).

https://senseis.xmp.net/?GoStones

[Erythen]

Just for my interest: What grade does "moon" correspond to?

Moon Grade is the mid-point between Practical and Snow. I don't know why Kuroki's company stopped selling them on their website after Mr. Kuroki retired, but as far as I know they're still being sold to China.

Here's a picture that could help you see the difference between the three grades of Mexican-sourced stones.

DSC_0716JPG.jpg (371.64 KiB) Viewed 22158 times

[EdLee]

Hi chie,

Is it possible for you to add paper napkins to cushion the warped board from a flat table surface to remove any wobbling?

Just wondering how severe is the board warping. I also have a slightly warped table board and I can eliminate all the wobbling by padding the bottom of the board with strategically placed paper napkins.
Thanks.

[SoDesuNe]

Thanks everyone! So since Kurokigoishi doesn't offer them any more, there is no quick check for me to gauge the stones' price? ^^

[bogiesan]

I cross-posted a link for your set over to reddit’s go/baduk group. Spawned some weirdly negative comments, as if international go revolves around reddit.

FYI: The warp seems to bother reddit’s folks. Under a number of different Negative environmental conditions, any chunk of wood will move, given enough time. I have a thirty-year-old single-piece 5.0cm board that has a 3-5mm tilt in one corner. I use a thick piece of fabric under the board. My purpleheart board is twenty years old but shows no signs of movement. The wood is just so incredibly dense.

I suggest you post a firm price. The items, if purchased today from Kuroki’s site would cost between 101,000 and 131,000 yen depending on the sub-label of the stones. If we assume a fine set could last one hundred years, and that it would diminish in value quickest at the beginning before increasing in value (as an antique example of treasured and lost Japanese craftsmanship), I’d guess 85-75% of retail would be fair. But you should be prepared for some jerk to try to lowball you by offering less that 50%.

Hope you can sell it soon because you will make someone VERY happy.

[bogiesan]

Thanks everyone! So since Kurokigoishi doesn't offer them any more, there is no quick check for me to gauge the stones' price? ^^

The value of Size #32 shells is not easily estimated. The price spectrum is quite wide, 30,000 yen to 170,000 yen. If you no longer have the paperwork that came with the set (I have kept all the quirky ephemera from Kuroki) just use 50,000 as a good estimate.

[chie]

Hello there,
to be honest I did not expect this much activity

So anyways as far as the moon grade is concerned just adding to what everyone else said:
The document that came with the stones said, that moon-grade was about 30% of the production of stones (blossom-grade was 40% and snow-grade was 10%).
I also added another picture with all stones (except for 2 white and 2 black replacement stones).

Furthermore I investigated the severity of the warping some more. If I'm honest if you just place the board on a table it is quite annoying since it
rocks back and forth. Unfortunately I lack a tatami for testing but I used a plain t-shirt and it seems to be sufficient to avoid the rocking.

I'm really not sure how to take a picture that shows the warping clearly.

[Erythen]

Thanks everyone! So since Kurokigoishi doesn't offer them any more, there is no quick check for me to gauge the stones' price? ^^

A good rough estimate is to take the mid-point in the price between snow (yuki) grade and practical (jitsuyo) grade. Though it'll likely be closer to jitsuyo than Yuki.

You can use the wayback machine to check the price of Kuroki stones just before Mr Kuroki retired. After he retired the company raised the price quite dramatically.

For the ones marked "sold out" just click on them and you'll see the price.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151205235 ... ategory/12

[titanlegions]

I sent you a PM.

[chie]

As it seems to be the most interesting point for some at the moment here are some more pictures of the warping:

warp_scaled.jpg (55.17 KiB) Viewed 21909 times

warp2_scaled.jpg (191.21 KiB) Viewed 21909 times

warp_pressed_down.jpg (141.79 KiB) Viewed 21909 times

If not held down, there is a gap of about 2mm on one side and a 2.5 to 3mm gap on the other side (board rotated 180 degrees). If looking from
the front (sitting like you would play on the board), the left corner of the board is always making contact with the
table and the right corner is making contact depending on the rocking of the board.

I will also edit the original post to include a rough estimate of the prices you'd pay if you were to buy this set today (Thank you bogiesan).