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Eames Lounge Chair -- Authentic or Fake?  

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mcwinterr
(@mcwinterr)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 18
21/07/2008 9:20 pm  

I recently purchased an Eames 670 lounge chair from a private seller in Upper Saddle River, NJ off of eBay. According to the seller, the lounge chair was purchased in the 1970s at Maurice Villency, a high end furniture retailer located off Route 17 in Paramus, NJ, and on the Internet at http://www.villency.com.

I believe that it may be a repaired authentic Eames 670. However, I would like to gauge readers of this forum to check and see if they believe this chair is authentic, or if it is a fake.

Reasons why I believe it to be an authentic Eames 670:

- This chair is not a large chair at all, and I know that the original Eames 670 was not oversized or tall, as many reproductions are today.

- The armrests of this chair have double welt piping, something that only high quality reproductions from the last few years have.

- The base of this chair is heavy cast aluminum.

- This chair does not have a tilt mechanism of any kind; the cair and ottoman only swivel.

- While the chair does have exposed bolts under the arms, I believe this could be a result of a repair job.

Below, please find a link to photos for everyone's review. I look forward to hearing what everybody thinks!

http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.winterroth/EamesChair

http://picasaweb.google.com/matt.winterroth/EamesChair


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RetroSixty
(@retrosixty)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 572
21/07/2008 10:33 pm  

Fake I'm afraid, the base isn...
Fake I'm afraid, the base isn't right at all.


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NULL NULL
(@teapotd0meyahoo-com)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 4318
21/07/2008 10:40 pm  

Also
The seat panel looks to be a different veneer from the rest of the chair?


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mcwinterr
(@mcwinterr)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 18
21/07/2008 10:46 pm  

Repaired
Yes, I believe it was repaired. That explains the different wood paneling. As for the base, What did an original Eames 670 from the 70s have?


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NULL NULL
(@klm3comcast-net)
Noble Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 265
21/07/2008 10:47 pm  

double welt?
The armrests have welt only around the top edge. Eames chairs have it around the top and bottom edges. I've seen an old Selig or Plycraft chair or two with welted armrests. It could also have been redone at some point and welt added (though this is a moot point without the lower edge welt).
The bolts look like factory issue to me.
The base is very similar to an Eames base but the horizontal bit at each end looks shorter than on an Eames base. Also, the arms of the star are not as thick, I believe.


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norm
 norm
(@norm)
Noble Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 227
21/07/2008 10:52 pm  

Also, the feet/legs on your...
Also, the feet/legs on your chair are square, they should be round. Ottomans only swiveled on the first year of production. Sorry, I don't think it's Herman Miller.


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mcwinterr
(@mcwinterr)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 18
21/07/2008 11:18 pm  

Just as an aside, the base...
Just as an aside, the base did have circular screw on feet/casters. However, since several were cracked, I removed them, and placed felt on the bottom so as to not scratch my wood floor until I can find replacement casters.


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LuciferSum
(@lucifersum)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 1874
21/07/2008 11:25 pm  

In addition
In addition to the above comments, I would point out that the aluminum struts that hold the headrest to the backrest appear too widely spaced.
I would also point out that this is still a great little chair! Unless you paid a bundle for this chair you're probably getting a decent deal, as the price on the Plycraft & Selig copies has started to rise.


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NULL NULL
(@teapotd0meyahoo-com)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 4318
21/07/2008 11:28 pm  

Hmm
I don't know how they were in the 70s, but judging from the web site, this retailer does not exactly seem to specialize in classic design.


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mcwinterr
(@mcwinterr)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 18
21/07/2008 11:33 pm  

I am pretty much convinced...
I am pretty much convinced that this is not an original Eames 670, but since I bought it for $150, I am still very happy with the purchase.
Knowing this, I probably won't spend a fortune to reupholster it.
Would any of you have any tips on reupholstering this find. I love this color of the leather. How mush would it cost to get reupholstered in leather? In another fabric (cordouroy maybe)?
Does anyone have any good places in the NYC metro/Northern New Jersey area?


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LRF
 LRF
(@lrf)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2967
22/07/2008 2:13 am  

Those chaires were made f...
Those chaires were made for the federated dept store chain, Folys Bloomingdales,Riches.in the late 60's through the 80s they were very well made and as close to the Herman miller chair, as you could get with out making a china clone, but....... every thing is off from the original Herman miller.


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