Brand Spotlight: Piatnik

A few months ago I looked through my puzzle stash and realized I had several from a manufacturer whose puzzles I had never tried. There they were, in the middle of the stacks, hiding in plain sight. I don’t know why I took so long to get to them, but I’m glad I finally did.

As with any manufacturer spotlight, I need to start with some history of the company. And in this case it’s an extraordinarily long history. Piatnik was founded in Austria in 1824. Yes, 200 years ago! Originally a card manufacturing company, they expanded their line in the 1950’s to include board games. A decade after that, they began making jigsaw puzzles. As companies do, Piatnik eventually decided to expand to more markets so, in 1989, they formed their U.S. label, and followed that up with subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Hungary. It’s a truly international puzzle publisher.

Looking through their catalog, you’ll see that many of their images appear more challenging than a typical 1000 piece puzzle. The reality is that this is both true… and false. While many of them do appear difficult, there is (in most cases) enough differentiation in color, texture, and pattern to offset the forbidding nature of the image. And there’s no denying that these are some absolutely gorgeous puzzles.

There were a few things that stood out when I opened the boxes. First, they do not provide a poster. However, the picture on the box is unobstructed, and is a precise representation of the final image. Second, there’s not a big variety of piece shapes; most of the pieces in each puzzle are a standard 2x2 (two bump - two hole) shape. This wasn’t a problem at all because of my third point… the pieces are extremely good quality, and the cut has enough differentiation between pieces that false fits are not a concern at all. In the three puzzles I worked - 3000 pieces in all - there were zero pieces with any peeling or bending, and maybe one false fit (my fault) 

In attacking my pile of Piatnik I started with one from their Art collection, called Bustling Aquarelle. The image is a 1923 painting from Russian-born abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky. I was worried as I began that the crazy nature of the shapes and colors would be difficult to tame, but it actually went together much faster than I expected.

Bustling Aquarelle

Second in line was one that had my attention from the first time I saw it online. It’s titled Umbrellas, and I think you can see why they called it that. I don’t know what it is that draws me to this one. Maybe the colors, maybe the almost three-dimensional look of it, or possibly the contrast of the straight, black handles against the backdrop of the colorful, rounded canopies. Whatever the case, I loved assembling it.

Umbrellas

The final Piatnik of my month was much more daunting than the first two, and took several hours more than each of the others. I chose Wine Gallery, in honor of my wife, whose love of all things wine related is widely known. I started with the “X”es, then assembled the full cabinet before working on the bottles. I might have finished faster by doing the bottles before the wood, but I can be stubborn when I get an idea in my head. Take a look at the reviews at the link above, and you’ll see repeated use of the words “Hard,” “Expert,” and “Advanced.” If you like a challenge that still holds your interest, give this one a shot.

Wine Gallery

If you’ve done a Piatnik puzzle, you know they are beautiful images manufactured on excellent quality materials, and are a lot of fun. This is definitely a first-rate brand, and one I will continue to purchase.

Happy Puzzling.

Phil (aka Puzzle Buster)