A folding leather case that unfolds into a 19×19 board: walnut substrate, hand-stitched grid, 361 hand-cut stones nested in twin leather wells. Built for the long game — both the one played across the board, and the one played, season by season, with the maison.
Le Joseki is the maison's recognition of sustained patronage. The configuration here — leather, board, stones, hardware — is shown in preview to Sociétaire; the commission itself is held for Cercle Maison. A piece earned across seasons, never sold cold.
Each tier is marked by its Sovereign Compass coin — struck in solid brass on admission and engraved with your dossier. Your standing, and what it opens, is held quietly in Le Compte.
Not yet a member? Register a maison account · Learn how membership grows with each commission.
Bespoke Artifact · folding case + 19×19 board + 361 hand-cut stones · choose case leather, board substrate, stone material per side, grid hardware, and monogram · optional pen niche · 20–28 weeks from confirmed materials.
50% deposit to begin: $13,000 is collected at order, the remaining $13,000 is invoiced when the piece ships. The deposit secures your materials and reserves the artisan's bench-time. Cancellations within 14 days of order are refundable in full; thereafter, the deposit is non-refundable.
Choose every material that goes into your piece. The maison's full library is described in Les Matières and explained tannery-by-tannery in the Leather Guide. All choices below are reversible up to the point your materials are sourced; the atelier confirms each commission by email before cutting.
1 · Deposit — Your 50% deposit secures the bench-time and the materials run.
2 · Confirmation — Within 5 business days, the atelier writes to confirm leather availability, thread sample (sent by post on request), and projected ship date. You may revise any choice up to materials sourcing.
3 · Construction — Cutting, edge work, saddle-stitching, hardware setting. You'll receive a single photograph at the halfway mark.
4 · Finishing & Le Sceau — Final inspection, edge wax, certificate of authenticity issued, jade key engraved.
5 · Shipment — The balance ($13,000) is invoiced. Insured courier dispatch. Once received, you register the piece in Le Sceau to bind it to your maison account.
Every Exquis Maroquinerie piece ships with a paired certificate of authenticity and a small cut of jadeite jade engraved with a private verification key. The certificate is a solid brass card and bears the piece's title, leather, completion date, edition (1 of 1), and the artisan's hand-signature. The jadeite jade token is engraved once, by hand, with a code generated cryptographically at the moment the piece is sealed. Together they are the maison's only accepted countersign for future verification, repair, or legacy transfer.
The piece arrives in the full maison écrin — a Grade 6A Mulberry-silk dust bag, a hand-fitted atelier case, a Mulberry-Hanji outer wrap, and a wax-sealed silk ribbon — and every metal element carries the maison circle, secured by hand in traditional Nishijin gold- or platinum-leaf thread.
The piece, the certificate, and the jadeite jade token are nested inside a two-layer 100% Grade 6A Pure Mulberry-silk dust bag — a 170 gsm Matka silk linen exterior (40 momme) drawn over a 150 gsm Westminster Duchesse silk satin lining (50 momme), 320 gsm together. The Matka outer carries a linen-style hand and lets the bag breathe; the Duchesse lining is mirror-smooth, so the leather meets only satin in storage — no dust, no abrasion, no wear. The bag is drawn closed with a traditional Japanese 100% silk Kumihimo Tsuka-Ito cord, 10 × 1.5 mm, fitted with Japan-cast brass. The maison observes this packaging on every shipment — Prêt-à-Porter and Exquis Maroquinerie alike.
Read the full mechanic on the Le Sceau · Authenticity page.
Bespoke commissions are non-returnable once construction has begun. You may cancel within 14 days of order for a full deposit refund. Past that point, the deposit is non-refundable; however, in the event the finished piece fails to meet the maison's own standards or the agreed specifications, the atelier rebuilds at its expense.
Every piece is covered for life by the atelier care programme: free re-stitching, edge refinishing, hardware service, and component replacement against original manufacture for as long as the piece is in the keeper's hands. Read more in our care & warranty terms.
"A joseki is the move the master has played a thousand times and the novice has never seen. The piece is named for that asymmetry. We build the case to fold without strain, the board to lay flat without warp, and the stones to sit in their wells as if they were always there. Of every piece in the maison's vocabulary, this is the one that asks the most of the table it is set on. — The Atelier"
Write to info@atelierzeno.com with any question — material, dimension, timeline, or a story you'd like the piece to carry. The maison answers every commission inquiry by hand.