The Brooklyn Bridge in all its majesty with sailing ships and the New York City skyline shimmering in the sunshine. Art by Eric Dowdle. Approximately 100 pieces. Nestled in the woods of Western Maine, The Waterford Puzzle Company is obsessed with the fine art of traditional wood puzzle making. That’s why every puzzle they create is still cut by hand without a pattern-making every piece and puzzle a one-of-a-kind work of art.The artisans at Waterford seek each day to perfect the craft of jigsaw puzzle making begun by British mapmaker John Spilsbury more than 250 years ago. This means: sourcing the finest woods available, working with archival quality paper and inks, licensing fresh new artists, cutting pieces so they “lock” together, and hand waxing each puzzle before it’s carefully tucked into an elegant box. The craftsmanship, artistry, and wood that go into every Waterford Puzzle make each one beautiful and special. Our puzzles are cut from 7mm (more than ¼” thick), 5-ply African Okoume wood. This is a beautiful wood similar to Mahogany that is selected because of its tight grain, beauty, and resistance to warping. Each Waterford Puzzle is cut by hand using a scroll saw with a very fine blade. We sometimes go through several blades on a single puzzle because the blades often break. Our puzzle artisans have more than 80 years combined puzzle cutting experience. It can take a year or more of training to become a puzzle artisan able to cut puzzles beautifully without a pattern. This is what makes each piece and each puzzle completely unique-a one-of-a-kind work of art. This means that our puzzles can be enjoyed for generations. The art is printed on high-quality archival paper with UV fade resistant inks. The art is also covered by a thin laminate to further protect the surface. We heatset the art and laminate to the wood before cutting the puzzles. The back of each puzzle is carefully sanded and hand waxed to protect the wood and give it a silky smooth feel. We pride ourselves on treating each puzzle with great care. Be sure to look for the puzzle artisan's signature piece in every 100-piece puzzle or larger. Each 100-piece or larger puzzle contains a series of easily recognizable "specialty pieces,” These are silhouette shapes of animals, flowers, people, and things such as surfboards, bicycles, and other objects that add even more fun to putting a puzzle together. Specialty pieces may even include personalization (names, initials, dates, and objects). We can fit around five specialty pieces for every 100 pieces in a puzzle. Our mini puzzles (approx. 50-pieces) contain only our signature tree logo specialty piece. Yes! While the image itself affects the puzzle difficulty, we take great pride in challenging even the most experienced puzzler: color line cutting, edge pieces that don't look like edge pieces, corners that seem not to be there, all add to the puzzling experience. We cut puzzles as easy, intermediate, and difficult. Our standard cuts are intermediate level. Not necessarily. We strive to make all puzzles interesting so when a puzzle lends itself to creating an irregular edge we go for it. An example would be a butterfly with the puzzle being cut around the actual shape of the butterfly itself. Another example could be a still life painting where we cut around the bowl of fruit or vase of flowers.Another option is where a straight border may have what we call an "executive edge." That's when we create either an extension of an image to go beyond its borders. Or we may add additional pieces outside of a traditional border--giving extra visual excitement and challenge. Yes, with great care and skill. To do so, we require the surrounding pieces of the missing or damaged piece to remain together. This creates a 'frame' around the area and allows us to recreate a piece. It is a labor intensive process. We charge $79 per piece for replacements. Contact us at hello@waterfordpuzzles.com