Travis Neighbor Ward

Unless you have an expert eye for billiard collectibles, you would never guess that the 1865 Brunswick table in the window of Blatt Billiards in Manhattan retails for $135,000. "The price of a billiard table depends on how rare it is and how much work or restoration is involved," says owner Ron Blatt, whose clientele has included Bill Gates, Michael Douglas, and Sting. Ron's grandfather, Sam, emigrated from Russia in 1913 and started off repairing cue sticks and turning ivory balls. Today Blatt Billiards is the only remaining billiard table manufacturing company in New York. According to many in the billiard world, it is the best in the nation. "Blatt's phenomenal," says designer Marshall Watson. "It's old-world, but old-world coming into new."

Next-door to the showroom is Blatt's six-story custom workshop, crammed with hundreds of tables and billiard chairs. Here 40 master craftsmen from countries as diverse as Russia, Cuba, and South Africa construct wooden cue racks, sew leather table pockets, and repair table rails, which are then wrapped in patchwork quilts for protection.

On the third floor 15 men restore antique billiard tables and create new ones. They each work on a single table for an average of five weeks at a time, chiseling out intricate floral motifs and applying highly decorative inlays while making sure that, as director of marketing Barry Dubow says, "it plays like a precision instrument." (The slate beds, he notes, are kept in the basement because the floor could never hold the immense weight.)

"Sometimes we make original carvings, other times replicas," says artisan Simon Kaplan, a Moscow native who attended one of Russia's best crafts colleges. "Mostly we carve by hand. Blatt is one of the only places in the United States where this is still done."

Blatt Billiards tables range from about $10,000 to over $225,000. Shown are three tables the company sells. (If you want a classic 1890s Brunswick Jewel, Blatt has that, too, for a mere $45,000.)

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CAPTIONS:

The Griffith ($65,000; ca. 1875). Made by the H.W. Griffith Company, a small Manhattan firm. Special features: mahogany, ebony, walnut, and tulipwood; a York-style leg; and drop pockets.

The Prism ($22,500). One of Blatt's first contemporary models. Made of stainless steel (brass and copper can also be used), Carpathian burl elm for the rails, and blue cloth. Has an automatic ball return.

The Claridge ($18,500). An original Blatt design. Victorian style, made of rosewood and bird's-eye maple, initially created for actor Robert Urich. "It has a light, airy feeling," says owner Ron Blatt.