Luxury Pomegranate Tree Walnut Backgammon Set with Ararat Outline

Luxury Pomegranate Tree Walnut Backgammon Set with Ararat Outline by Hrachya Ohanyan

A pomegranate tree in pearl-green resin, its branches curling out to red resin fruit, set flush into a pale walnut disc under the twin peaks of Ararat. This is the 60 cm / 23.6″ luxury Armenian wooden backgammon set made by Hrachya Ohanyan, Ararat outline. Handmade in walnut, resin-filled points, 32 checkers, dice from billiard balls and a branded case.

This is the board for the Armenian living room that already has the mountain on the wall, the diaspora wedding, and the player who wants colour in the wood rather than on it. The tree is cut into the lid and poured: trunk and branches in green resin that swirls like malachite, each fruit a drop of red, each leaf green, all polished flush with the pale disc. A rope-and-bead ring holds it, stipple and lattice fill the lid, and the mountain on the rim carries its snow ridges.

Inside, the points are poured with the same green resin under carved scroll tips, the petal wheel on each half sits in a green-filled scrolled ring, and a stamped brass hinge holds the bar; the back carries a chequerboard of red-marbled resin and walnut squares between two eternity whirls. For the Yerevan flat, the christening, and the player who wants tree, fruit and mountain in one board.

Specifications

• Size open: 60 × 60 cm / 23.6″ × 23.6″
• Size folded: 60 × 30 cm / 23.6″ × 11.8″
• Material: walnut wood, natural colour, varnished; pearl-green and red epoxy resin in the tree and the points
• Decoration: a pomegranate tree — trunk and curling branches in pearl-green epoxy resin, leaves green, fruit in red resin — cut into a smooth pale disc and polished flush, inside a rope-and-bead ring; the twin peaks of Mount Ararat carved in relief with snow ridges on the top edge; cusped panels of chip-carved star stipple, diamond lattice on the outer fields and rope-and-bead borders; back cover with a chequerboard of red-marbled resin and walnut squares, two eternity whirls in line work and lattice; points and petal wheels in scrolled rings filled with green resin inside
• Outline: Ararat — the twin peaks of Mount Ararat along the top edge, over a scrolled body with curled corners
• Hardware: brass hinge stamped with the maker's mark, cast-bronze clasps
• Craftsmanship: entirely handmade by Hrachya Ohanyan

What's Included

• Epoxy-inlaid walnut backgammon board, carved lattice around the disc
• 32 beech and walnut checkers with velvet bases
• Dice set cut from billiard balls
• Branded carrying case

Why You'll Love It

• Tree and mountain on one lid: the pomegranate tree in the disc and Ararat's two peaks on the rim — the two things Armenians put on everything, here in walnut and resin together.
• Poured, not painted: the green trunk, the leaves and every red fruit are resin set into cuts in the walnut and polished level, so the picture is inside the lid and the surface is one smooth sheet.
• Make it theirs: add a name or a date at checkout to mark a birthday, a retirement or years of games together.

Good to Know Before You Buy

Is the tree carved or painted? Neither, exactly: the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit are cut as shallow hollows into the walnut disc and filled with epoxy resin — pearl green for the tree, red for the pomegranates — then sanded flush and polished, so the colour sits in the wood. The lattice and stipple round it are chip-carved, the mountain on the rim is carved in relief, and the board is varnished. Nothing is printed or applied.

What about shipping and returns? Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Europe, always tracked; other countries pay a flat $100 (Brazil, Chile and New Zealand $200). Every set is covered by our 30-day returns policy.

How do I look after it? Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from radiators. Wipe with a dry, soft cloth and store it closed in its carrying case.

About the Artist - Hrachya Ohanyan

National Master Hrachya Ohanyan began his fine woodcraft in 1985 and founded his workshop in Yerevan in 2010. This board belongs to his collection of wooden backgammon sets, each one made by hand by the craftspeople of that workshop. Read Hrachya Ohanyan's story or explore the full backgammon collection.

Also known as nardi (нарды), nardy, tavla or shesh besh.