These plates are quality crafted solid wood. They do not appear as dark as in the picture. I was unhappy to see that the felt of one of the plates (we purchased two) was too big to fit down inside the bottom of the bowl. The other felt fit just right inside the other bowl. They also stack better in a certain order so they are apparently not exactly the same size. We will not use the felt in either now and they should fit our needs nicely.