Our Story

Our story

Purling - The Art of the Game.

Founded in 2012, Purling originated from a desire to bring to life traditional games in a new way; using colour, art, beautiful materials and specialist finishing processes to create games that feel wonderful to play with, are visually appealing and at the same time, positively enhance and complement homes, offices and other work and living spaces.

From our start we've made some big waves and already worked with a host of well known brand names and individuals, from artists to sports stars, media personalities and influencers to serve discerning customers in countries across the world.

Launching chess in luxurious materials - Ebony, Boxwood, Maple & Alabaster, hand carved and lacquered with Italian Napa Leather base felts featuring the Purling logo embossed in 18 carat gold, Purling sets soon established themselves as style leaders with their luxury and highly tactile feel making sets with which people love to play.

We soon extended the product offer, working with local and international artists to create unique pieces that are as much a statement of art as a playable game, complementing our core designs. Our collaborations with artists - Sophie Matisse, Leonardo Frigo, Sickboy, Khamama and Eleni Maragaki to name but a few, convey compelling stories in the artist' eye, both beautiful and unique and serve as distinctive design statements alongside their practical uses, helping to bring together interior schemes and providing an alluring focus in any space.
The introduction of 'Editions' chess - recreations from original art pieces in limited numbers, extends the reach and accessibility of our distinct art pieces.

Our backgammon and playing cards proved a great success and are seen as highly collectable across all markets. Both are back on the scene in late 2023 and 2024, revitalised and refreshed under the keen eye of our Creative Director, Gosia Łapsa-Malawska

The further introduction of new product categories and new collaborations with luxury brands will further reinforce our position within the luxury games and interiors sectors.

Our fully bespoke service allows you to customise our existing designs or create your own truly unique games - fully supported by our in house design and client services teams and Purling artists to bring your ideas to life.

Purling games grace homes, offices and hotels across the globe as well as being found on cruise liners and all manner of craft on the water and in the air.

In 2021, a new management team were appointed to grow and lead the business into new areas whilst building on the strong heritage already established.
Led by our Chairman, Gillian, a successful entrepreneur and investor, the team have built new and further developed longstanding relationships with suppliers, distributors and the customer base to take Purling forward into its second decade.

In 2022, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with the appointment of our first Brand Ambassador - Zsoka Gaal.
Zsoka is a Hungarian WIM (Woman International Master - chess), achieving the title in 2021 at the age of 14 years and 2 months and was the online World Youth Champion - Girls under 14 years category, in the same year.

Alongside our soon to be unveiled Location Ambassador scheme we have a lot of excitement planned for the future and we're delighted to be working with a host of new partners, retailers and collaborators to bring Purling into even more people's lives.

We've collaborated with