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If you are looking for a new pool table, there are many brands which you may be considering. Three of the ones that come up in conversations the most include Diamond, Brunswick, and Olhausen.
In this article, I will take you through the basics of each of the brands and help you decide which of the three is the best one for you.
A Brief History of the Three Brands
First, let’s take a look at the background of each of the brands. That will help you start understanding their strengths and weaknesses.
Diamond
Diamond was first started in 1987 by a dedicated group of pool players. The company was founded in Louisville, Kentucky, and the idea behind the company was to create a very simple and unique pool table that would feature a better level of quality than anything that came before it.
The main goal of the Diamond brand was to create a pool table that would become the standard for national and international tournament play.
What is interesting to note is that because Diamond is one of the few companies that produces pool tables for pool players, ones made by actual pool players, they come with many player-friendly features that most other pool tables do not come with. Something else to note is that Diamond focuses on producing the highest quality pool tables around and is by no means a mass manufacturer of them.
At this time, Diamond has under 100 employees, with estimated annual revenues of roughly 820,000 dollars.
Brunswick
Next, we have Brunswick, officially known as the Brunswick Corporation. It was first started by John Moses Brunswick, all the way back in 1845 when he immigrated to the USA from Switzerland. The company can trace its origins to Ohio but is currently based out of Chicago, Illinois.
This is a company which does produce billiards tables, but so much more than that too. Brunswick also manufactures boating-related products and actually has several boating brands under its name. Then, in the 1970s, Brunswick also began manufacturing arms and ammunition.
The brand actually started out by making carriages for horses, and currently also owns a brand of bicycles, a yacht company, and makes bowling equipment too.
John Brunswick had a fascination with the game of pool, and John, therefore, began manufacturing pool tables which saw widespread commercial success. The company was renamed J. M. Brunswick & Brother when his brother came onboard into the company.
The company slogan is “the oldest and most extensive billiard table manufacturers in the United States.”
In 1874, the Brunswick company merged with Great Western Billiard Manufactory owned by Julius Balke to become the J. M. Brunswick & Balke Company. There was then another merger, which ended up creating the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, which in 1960 changed its name to the Brunswick Corporation.
At this time, the Brunswick Corporation has well over 15,000 employees, with estimated annual revenues exceeding 4.4 billion dollars.
Olhausen
Finally, we have Olhausen, which is at this time one of the most popular billiards table brands in the United States. The company was first started in 1969 when brothers Butch and Don Olhausen moved to California and started moving and recovering pool tables.
Then, in 1973, the manufacturer which the Olhausen brothers delivered pool tables for, offered to sell them the company and the inventory for just 1,000 dollars. At first, the company started out by making just 35 pool tables per year, but within 2 years, was making over 300 pool tables annually.
At this time, Olhausen, officially known as Olhausen Billiard Manufacturing Inc., now sells close to 30,000 pool tables annually, and they are all made in a 250,000 square foot plant located in Portland, Tennessee.
Olhausen is to this day still family-owned, it has a limited number of employees, and has estimated annual revenues of roughly 24 million dollars.
Diamond vs. Brunswick vs. Olhausen: Which Offers Better Quality?
If you are looking for super high-quality pool tables, then Diamond is a great brand to go with.
As mentioned before, Diamond was founded on the basis of producing the very best pool tables around. They are made by billiards players for billiards players, and this not only means that they are made with extremely high-quality standards but also with many features designed for players that you won’t find on pool tables from other brands.
The vast majority of people out there, both amateur and pro players, especially the professional billiards players, agree that Diamond is by far one of the best manufacturers of pool tables in the world.
Now, the old saying holds true here, you get what you pay for, or in other words, be prepared to spend a whole lot of money on a Diamond pool table, even for the more basic models. One of the reasons why the quality of Diamond pool tables is so high is because they are all manufactured in Jeffersonville, Indiana, under strict quality control.
Next, we have Brunswick pool tables. These pool tables are also known for their quality, although not quite like Diamond. The general consensus is that Brunswick pool tables offer great value and good quality for the money that they cost. Brunswick pool tables are some of the more affordable tables you can get, at least when compared to other high-end brands such as Diamond.
That said, while they are not number one in quality, and while they are not the most expensive options out there, they are seen as being ideal for basic home use and they can serve as decent entry-level pool tables for professionals too.
One of the reasons why Brunswick pool tables are a bit cheaper and slightly lower in quality than from other brands is because they are not made in the United States.
Finally, we have Olhausen, which just like Diamond, is a brand known for producing some of the highest quality pool tables around. If you are an aspiring professional or somebody training for some serious games of pool, Olhausen is a leading brand to keep in mind.
In terms of reputation, quality, and reliability, Olhausen features top scores across the board.
Just like with Diamond, for these high-quality Olhausen pool tables, you will spend a good deal of money, but most agree that they are well worth the cost. Moreover, a big part of the reason why these pool tables are so high in quality is that they are manufactured in the United States, in Portland, Tennessee to be exact.
Which Offers a Better Warranty
Diamond pool tables feature decent warranties. The company provides its customers with a full part and labor warranty for a period of 90 days from delivery of equipment and a limited warranty against manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year.
Brunswick is also known for its good warranties, as it offers states that pool tables will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for as long as the table is owned by the original owner.
Olhausen offers the best warranties out of all three of these brands, as it provides a lifetime warranty on all pool tables and warrants them against defects in materials and workmanship.
Diamond vs. Brunswick vs. Olhausen: Which Has a Better Product Portfolio?
Through our research of all three manufacturers’ websites, it appears as though both Olhausen and Diamond each have massive selections of pool tables available for purchase.
When it comes down to the product portfolio, Olhausen appears to have the best selection of pool tables, with Diamond being a close second, and Brunswick coming in at the number three spot.
With that being said, Olhausen produces only pool tables and pool table accessories, whereas both Diamond and Brunswick also produce other products such as shuffleboard tables, foosball tables, ping pong tables, and more.
Additionally, Brunswick also produces a variety of furniture such as bar tables, bar stools, poker tables, dining tops, and more.
Which of the Three Brands Should You Choose?
If it is a high-end and high-quality pool table you are looking for, both Olhausen and Diamond are great options to go with, and if you want a wide selection of high-end pool tables, Olhausen is the clear winner.
However, if you are looking for more moderately priced pool tables, as well as many other types of gaming tables and even furniture too, then Brunswick is a good brand to check out.
Summary
At the end of the day, all three of these pool table brands are great options to consider.
If you want a pool table for fun and basic use, you are probably best off going with Brunswick, but if you are looking for professional quality and awesome workmanship, both Diamond and Olhausen are great options to consider.
