Bertoia Bird Chair - Wire Gauge  

I'm guessing yes
Current Knoll production of the other Bertoia chairs definitely use thicker wire than vintage, so I would presume the Bird chair is the same.

Uh oh
I do like the thinner wire but apparently it is thicker now for a reason. The chair with the thinner wire has a new break forming..something I think will be an occurring theme with the older one. I'm thinking I will just buy the one with the thicker wire and you won't notice the dif between the that and the thinner gauge on the ottoman since it is hidden by the cover..

The only person who will...
The only person who will ever notice will be you 😉

Old thread....
The vintage Bertoia line has a thinner gauged wire than the current chairs being produced today. On the vintage you'll notice that the perimeter wire, and the two wires that are welded to the seat / base connection are thicker than the rest of the wire. I don't know when Knoll changed, but now if you look a the current design of the Bertoia side chairs (I assume the entire Bertoia line), you'll notice it's sportier and squatty with thicker gauged wire. I rather the vintage...more timeless.
I actually walked into DWR and asked the really pretty saleswomen of the difference between vintage and current day design Bertoias....deer in headlights.
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/th...

OK
So after investigating the cost to repair broken welds, strip and powdercoat the chair black I decided to try and find a chair with no issues instead, since it would end up around the same cost just without the headaches and it would be in original condition. I found just that and even for a little less than the one I had originally intended to buy, plus it already has a black frame and a cover in good condition. I will post some pics when it arrives in a few weeks. BTW it is the thinner gauge earlier version 🙂

Congrats
Look forward to the pics.