The advent of Snooker can be traced back to the 17th century and was originally played with cues made from the thick end of Mace.

Over time playing equipment became more refined until what we know as the modern snooker cue was born.

Modern cues are feats of engineering and technological knowhow and the most sophisticated cues can take months in the making.

Although people did begin playing snooker with the thick end on Mace in the 1800’s, they soon found that precision and accuracy improved if they turned the mace around and used the thin end to hit the balls.

Then known as bar billiards, the game became popular in many drinking houses, although the UK followed a little behind the rest of Europe as pub games were universally banned for much of the century.

The leather cue tip was invented in 1807 and marked the end of the use of Mace and a new era for Snooker.

Francois Mingaud, a famous French billiards player began to use the leather tip and within a few years it was the most popular form of custom snooker cues.

During this ear the use of chalk was also introduced when it was discovered that it could help the cue ‘grab’ the ball more effectively.

Snooker cues continued to develop over the decades and by the 1930’s Snooker was the most popular cue based sport in the country.

The game’s popularity was due in part to the growing fame of legendary player Joe Davis who won the first World Billiards championship in 1928 to massive acclaim.

Davis went on to win several more titles throughout the 1930’s and 40’s. His fame even warranted his own Madame Tussauds waxwork.

The 1960’s saw the introduction of the BBC’s ‘Big Break’, which became an unprecedented hit and further increased the popularity of the sport.

As snooker went from strength to strength more and more people were attending snooker championships and amateur players were beginning to invest in custom snooker cues.

Today, thousands of people own their own cues and enjoy playing Snooker on a regular basis. World class players can earn millions in competition prizes and revenue and the popularity of the sport shown no signs of slowing.

Nowadays, most cues are made of separate pieces so they can be stored easily and are generally composites of wood and carbon fibre or graphite.

Today, custom snooker cues come in a variety of colours and styles, and can even feature laser engraving and personalised photos.