Three alleys from where his father and grandfather worked their hides, Youssef Alaoui still runs the family leather trade in the medina of Fez. What began as a local craft now carries his name to tournament halls and private homes far beyond Morocco. Alaoui Leather is one of the finest houses in luxury backgammon, and Alaoui is particular about every board that leaves it.
Leather from edge to edge
An Alaoui board is leather from edge to edge. The case, the playing surface and the checkers are all leather, cut, stitched and finished in the workshop. People who care about the feel of a board, the finish of a seam and the sound of a checker landing on a point tend to end up here sooner or later.
Pebble Grain and Crocodile
The house works in two lines. Pebble Grain is the everyday luxury: a coarse, hard-wearing grain that takes colour beautifully and only looks better with use. Crocodile is the summit of the range, smooth leather with inlaid crocodile-leather points, made in small numbers and priced accordingly. Across both lines there are around twenty colourways, more than most leather houses would dare to keep in production.
The colours of Fez
The colours are where Fez shows most. Alaoui names every board after its two colours, and the combinations come straight from the old city: Claret & Teal, Cognac & Cream, Vermilion & Cream, Verdigris & Tan. Some are warm and spiced, some cool as a tiled courtyard, and none of them is timid. Ask Alaoui why a board is the colour it is and he will give you an answer that has more to do with passion than with fashion.
For the happy few
Alaoui boards are shipped all over the world, and not all of them are played. A surprising number end up on a low table in a living room, admired by people who have never learned the rules, which Alaoui considers a waste and a compliment in roughly equal measure. Either way, these boards are for the happy few. Real craftsmanship has its price, and Alaoui has never pretended otherwise.
Back in the café
He still plays in the café where he learned the game as a boy, carrying mint tea to the players long before he was allowed to sit at a board himself. He still gets up between games to fetch a tray for whoever is at the table. Put any board in front of him and he will usually tell you what it is made of before the second roll. Considering whose name is stamped on some of the finest leather in the club, most people have learned not to test him.
