Cobble Hill was founded in 2005 and is run from Victoria, not Cobble Hill; the owner liked the name.
Most puzzle companies cut their pieces in a grid, in neat rows and columns, which is called a ribbon cut. Cobble Hill uses a random cut… instead: the pieces bend and curve without falling into a pattern, which makes the puzzle harder.
Images are mostly licensed from artists. Since 2010 the company has also produced its own, photographed in a Victoria studio, including one built from teacups collected from antique shops and borrowed from grandmothers.
Materials and method
The puzzles are printed in Tipton, Indiana, on thick blue board from recyclable materials, with vegetable-based inks, and finished with a linen texture that runs across both the puzzle and the box.
The cutting dies are made by hand, and with a random cut the die maker comes as close to the target count as the pattern allows, so a 1000-piece puzzle may hold 991 pieces or 1,007. A count that is slightly off is not a fault and not a missing piece.
