Club sized chess set with a King size of 4.5" in the Philippine Staunton pattern. The pieces are made from Kamagong and Narra wood. The design of the set is post-WWII. For additional information on the design features of the Philippine Staunton sets as well as the use of Kamagong and Narra wood, see here: Philippine Staunton Chess Set, Club Size (4.5"), 1940-1950.

Following a recommendation of a fellow chess collector, I experimented with additional weights applied to the bases. See below for further information and pictures of the process.

Philippine Staunton pieces are commonly made from very dense and heavy wood, which together with the broad bases makes additional weighting unnecessary. Nevertheless, I wanted to see if and how an additional weight can be applied to the bases. I started with carefully stripping off the red felts, which I kept for reuse. I then started to carve out a spacious cavity from the base using different milling tools. Since I had neither the necessary tools for melting lead nor the nerves for pouring hot lead into the pieces for fear of cracking, I developed my own way of weighting by using lead granulate instead. I mixed the granulate with some part of the saw dust from the milling and some glue, thus forming some sort of compund which I then filled into the cavities. After the compound turned hard, I refelted the pieces with their original felts and buff polished the pieces with some Carnauba wax. 

The result is magnificent. The entire set now weighs almost 1.8 kg and has a very nice feel to it. Great for play!