Jaques of London is the family firm (since 1795) that first made the Staunton chess set in 1849 — the pattern every tournament in the world now uses.

Jaques of London opens the chess round as its origin node — the family firm that first made the pattern the whole game now plays with, and so the natural start for a round about who really makes a chess set. Its answer to a round about who makes the set is the source: the house that made the standard.

Its identity is the house that made the standard. The 1795 founding, the 1849 Staunton set and the family ownership are the story here. The originator. The house that made the standard.

(Honest notes, so the origin, the invention, the ownership and a hedge are framed accurately. Jaques sells chess sets and classic games as its heroes; we report its language as the brand’s own. On origin: Jaques of London, John Jaques and Son, is the Jaques family firm dating to 1795 under Thomas Jaques, and it claims to be the oldest sports and games maker in the world. On the invention: it is where the Staunton chess set was first made, in 1849, the design registered on 1 March 1849 by Nathaniel Cooke, manufactured by Jaques, and named after and endorsed by the English master Howard Staunton, with the first five hundred sets numbered and hand-signed by Staunton, which we attribute. On the wider history: Jaques is also credited with popularising croquet, table tennis under the name Gossima, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and Happy Families. On ownership: it remains family-owned by the Jaques family. On a hedge: where its sets are made today is not clearly documented and much production is widely reported to be imported, so we do not assert that current sets are made in England. Its designs and the Jaques name are IP we describe but do not reproduce; there is no official brand hex; these tones are an unofficial interpretation.)

Jaques lives in a Jaques red. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Jaques’ identity is originating, heritage and family-owned — a Jaques red, an ink, a pale red, a deep crimson, and a paper. The palette leans Jaques red and deep crimson: a classic, heritage register that nods to a founding maker rather than a loud logo colour. It signals the house that made the standard — originating, heritage and family-owned. The honest caveat: with no official brand hex, these values are a heritage, unofficial interpretation, not first-party colours.

The lesson is a Jaques red signals an originating, heritage identity. Jaques’ world is the classic games cabinet and the Staunton set it created. For designers, it is a reminder that a classic red and a pale red can carry an originating, heritage brand — a heritage tone held as an accent, not a product shot. Because a strong hue can fail as small text, keep type dark and let the colour live in the accents, palette and band. The takeaways: date the firm to 1795 and the Staunton set to 1849; credit Cooke, Jaques and Staunton for their roles; keep the family ownership; and hedge where sets are made today.

The register is a heritage serif — originating, heritage, family-owned.

Jaques’ identity carries an originating, heritage spirit — the house that set the standard. A heritage serif captures the mood: established, confident and classic, the register of a founding name. Set in a Jaques-red palette, the heritage serif feels dependable and earned — exactly the personality Jaques carries. It behaves like a made, worn thing rather than a loud logo, mirroring a square-grid and a board-band. (Jaques’ real products and the name are things we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact typeface is not ours to use.) Because it is not ours to use, the honest description is “a heritage-serif brand,” shown here in a stand-in. The type behaves like the brand: originating, heritage and family-owned.

Jaques of London stands for the house that made the standard.

Jaques opens the round as its origin node. A Jaques-red palette, a heritage serif and a 1795 founding make one thing — the house that made the standard — the whole identity: originating, heritage and family-owned. The 1795 founding is the pitch, the 1849 Staunton set is the substance, and the family ownership is the frame. The point is the source of the standard, anchoring a round about who really makes a chess set.

Put to work, the identity is the brand told straight, the roles credited and the present hedged. A brand in this spirit would date the firm to 1795 and the Staunton set to 1849, credit Cooke, Jaques and Staunton for their roles, keep the family ownership, and hedge where sets are made today. A reader in this spirit would keep the facts right: Jaques makes chess sets and classic games; it dates to 1795; it first made the Staunton set in 1849; and it remains family-owned. Jaques opens the round, before House of Staunton. The honest editorial moves are to date the firm, to credit the roles, to keep the family ownership, and to hedge the present making.

For designers and brand-builders, Jaques opens the chess node: anchor a round with the house that made the standard everyone else now copies. The lessons: an industry can trace its standard object to one maker, here the Staunton set to Jaques; an origin is dated to 1795 under Thomas Jaques, the Jaques family firm claiming to be the oldest sports and games maker in the world; an invention is credited, that the Staunton set was first made by Jaques in 1849, the design registered on 1 March 1849 by Nathaniel Cooke and named after and endorsed by Howard Staunton, the first five hundred sets numbered and hand-signed by him; a wider history is noted, that Jaques also popularised croquet, table tennis as Gossima, Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and Happy Families; an ownership is kept, that it remains family-owned; and a present is hedged, that where its sets are made today is not clearly documented and much is reported imported, so we do not assert made in England. It is also a reminder to stay precise: Jaques is the originating, family-owned house of the chess aisle, the maker of the standard — with the palette here an unofficial interpretation. The hook is that origin: Jaques of London is the house that made the standard, the family firm from 1795 that first made the Staunton chess set in 1849, the pattern every tournament in the world now uses. Read that way, Jaques is less a single set than the house that made the standard: originating, heritage, family-owned. The lesson for a brand is that anchoring a round with the house that made the standard everyone else copies reinforces the honesty, and dating the firm keeps it earned. Jaques made the-house-that-made-the-standard the identity — proof that an originator can open a round.

Keep Jaques of London’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.