Wish List: La Pie (Ricordi, 2000pc)

Image via Puzzle Warehouse

Ever find yourself on the lookout for classically famous paintings turned jigsaw puzzles? Then check out the selection of offerings by Ricordi, if you haven't already. It's essentially a trove of artworks by Degas, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, and so forth in jigsaw puzzle form, ranging from 250 to 2000 pieces.

While there certainly are other companies that make fine art puzzles, such as Eurographics, Ricordi stands out because it offers an extensive number of 1500 and 2000 piece options. The majority of fine art puzzles I've come across cap out at 1000pc.

At this point, I can't speak for the quality of the puzzles themselves because they're still new to me, but my friend who introduced me to them vouched for the brand, so I hope to try one in the near future. Just window shopping for now though - the one I'm fond of, Monet's La Pie (above), appears to be sold out.

Wish List: Charley Harper Puzzles

Image via Amazon

Perhaps I should clarify. By "wish list", I refer to puzzles I wish were made with piece counts higher than 3000. For these Charley Harper jigsaw puzzles, honestly it applies to any and all of them.

Looks like all of the Charley Harper puzzles are made by Pomegranate, which also produced the M.C. Escher Day and Night puzzle. Judging by the quality of Day and Night (and reassured by the positive reviews on Amazon), these puzzles should be top notch in terms of quality and design. Definitely a great candidate for framing and wall decoration post-completion.

Amazon carries a decent selection of 1000pc options:
Mystery of the Missing Migrants (photo above)
The Sierra Range
Monteverde
The Rocky Mountains
Coral Reef
Glacier Bay

The puzzles are also available at Pomegranate and Charley Harper Art Studio.

From the Archives: Day and Night (Pomegranate, 1000pc)

This M.C. Escher puzzle was actually my first introduction to the Pomegranate brand. I received it as part of a "pass it forward" puzzle exchange, so it had been put together and taken apart once before. After finishing the puzzle myself, I noticed some of the pieces had spots where the picture was starting to split/tear from the cardboard base, so the long-term durability may be questionable.

Otherwise, excellent design and solid craftsmanship - puzzle pieces were sturdy with a precise fit. The finished puzzle would be easy to flip over, in case you wanted to tape/glue it as a wall decoration. Not too difficult overall, but with the monochromatic tone and repetitive line patterns, there were definitely some challenging spots. I got pretty hooked and finished it within a day.

At the time of posting, I wasn't able to find any online retailers with the item in stock (it's currently unavailable at Amazon). As mentioned above, I was given the puzzle as part of a one-way puzzle exchange, so I'll be passing it along to a friend soon!