Apple One Puzzles
Apple One is a Japan-based company that creates absolutely beautiful Japanese jigsaw puzzles. They have been in business since 1989 and have a variety of very interesting types of puzzles to choose from. These include: Gold Leaf Japanese Paper, Glow in the Dark, and Thermo-color changing. Please see below for more information on Apple One puzzles.
Their Goal:
They strive for quality and innovation and are dedicated to keeping the traditional enjoyment of working jigsaw puzzles alive for all age groups. Their puzzles range from 16-pieces to 2000-pieces. Some, like their 88-piece puzzles, are geared towards children or the elderly, containing large pieces that are easy to handle and assemble. Apple One also is constantly providing new puzzles for the enjoyment of all.
Different Inks & Materials:
I say “different”, but that is because I live in the United States, so I am used to only a few mediums for jigsaw puzzles: wood, plastic, and the more prevalent cardboard. Apple One, however, uses some fine materials, like what they call “silky cloth”, which is a special kind of paper that has an embossed texture.
They also use glow-in-dark ink, inks that give a wide range of color (Kaleido Ink), and inks that produce vivid colors (High Chroma Saturation). Another type of puzzle they make is called “Transparency Color Pieces”, which is simply gorgeous. The completed puzzle acts like a suncatcher, with the light shining through it.
Varied Artwork:
The artwork of Apple One puzzles ranges from animals, fish, countryside, and flowers to various works by Japanese artists, various classic art, world-wide scenery, as well as Japanese scenery. All of their puzzles are amazingly beautiful. They even have some 240-piece clock puzzles that are just too cute for words!
Their Company:
I like it that they are very open, or to use todays terminology, very “transparent” with details about their company. On their site, they list their name and address, along with a map of the area that they are in that pinpoints their location. I found all of the information that they provide on their site to be utterly informative and illuminating.
Information and Support:
As stated above, Apple One strives for quality products, thus they provide quality support. They have an interesting way to correct the issue of a missing piece. What they do is provide what they call a “Piece Card” that you can send them, with the details of the puzzle and the shape of the missing piece drawn on it.
This Piece Card is good for 5 years from the end of the production run of that particular puzzle. There are also instructions on how to acquire a missing piece in the case of the Piece Card missing from the box. They also state that even after the 5 years they will try to accommodate missing pieces, which I think is fantastic!
Another thing that they do is to explain how to make sure your puzzle pieces are connected properly. Information on how to assemble puzzles, and how to glue them together, is also provided, should you need that information. Their FAQ page is very informative as well.
Summing Up:
All in all, I think Apple One is a very outstanding and upstanding jigsaw puzzle company and I plan to be assembling one of their puzzles in the near future. I already have my eye on one their especially beautiful Japanese jigsaw puzzles that is of a white tiger, but I don’t think I can start with that one, as it may be out of my current price-range. Still, it is so gorgeous, well worth hoping and waiting for!
Here is their website, should you want to check them out: https://www.appleone.co.jp/en/index.php
There is also a video on YouTube that shows and example of the Transparency Color puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN-O5dk4_jU&feature=youtu.be
As always, Happy Puzzling!