The grips I finally settled on:

[Obleo]

Courtesy of Wicked Grips.

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[Zallith]

That is some purty furniture.

[SteveMiller]

I like the black double diamonds.  Sweet

[Condition 1]

Nice looking grips, congrats!

[Obleo]

Thank you for appreciating my taste in grip design.  According to the designer he only makes a total of 50 grips of any one design.  After that it's considered a custom order.  The ones shown are Brazilian rosewood with "real" ebony hardwood inserts.  He claims the checkering is all hand finished but it looks too flawless so I have my doubts.  I any case they feel great and seem durable.

[Zallith]

YouTube Larry Potterfield cutting checkering and you will see what an artisan can do with some hand tools its quite impressive. His looks about as perfect as it gets I think anyhow.

[Adrenolin]

Agreed. My father was a finish carpenter and I remember some of the detailed stuff he used to do with simple hand tools. With the correct tools, time, patience and the willingness to learn the proper skill set it really is amazing what some people can do with a simple piece of wood.

Btw.. Very nice grips!

[seniorgeek]

Enjoyed the pictures of the grips. I would like to see more quality wood grips on the market.

[Lumspond]

I like those grips as well. Nice choice.
I was at the Nur gun show last weekend, and my favorite knife maker was there, Billy Meekins from Bel Air MD. Purchased a Damascus Bowie knife with double coffin handle. Sweet.
He is also now making Damascus 1911 grips. Had some examples there at the show. Guess I've never seen metal grips before. Interesting. Here is a video mention on YouTube. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gp8-zZMoOkM