Eames Sofa Compact: new or vintage?  

My suggestion
before you actually buy one, go to a DWR or similar store where they might have one on their showroom floor and actually sit on the sofa. I found it quite uncomfortable, especially on my lower back.
I instead went for a Milo Baughman sofa, similar in shape to those made by Florence Knoll.

Hey there, its very funny tha...
Hey there, its very funny that you should mention that. I just picked up two lovely grey cloth sofa compacts today and plan on keeping one of them. They allegedly came from an office in the design school or potentially architecture school at U Penn and were never really used. I need to get a set of new glides for them, but they're in great shape. In regard to the folding, I found out something very interesting as I attempted to transport them in the family volvo wagon. When HM ships the sofas, they are shipped flat, which essentially shows the party piece of the design. Oddly enough, however, the screws that lock the back into place during assembly are one-way screws, which I have actually never seen before. This means that you can screw them in, but not unscrew them. If these are truly original screws, which they appear to be, that seems very un-Eamesian. I doubt the Eames office would have let that slide. Anyways, other than that, the design overall seems magnificent. I had been looking for an Eames sofa for quite some time as well and had very similar curiosities. Do I want the leather and teak Eames sofa? Do I want the compact? The 3473? It seemed that at this time for me, the sofa compact would be best. It can (after I sort out the screws) fold down and be transported without taking up significant volume and can also sit three or four people comfortably. My issue with vintage examples is that the foam hardened in a few examples that I'd seen. Most vintage examples I found were also Naugahyde, which does not really speak to me. I decided that something like this grey cloth would be perfect, as it was durable, comfortable, and aesthetically very nice. The pair I've got are roughly ten years old, which seemed ideal. I can never bring myself to buy a new Eames piece, not because of the money, but because I love to see how they age. Anyways, please feel free to send me an email. Drose115@me.com.
Additionally, does anyone have experience with these one-way screws on an Eames sofa compact?

Standard Phillips screws
on mine:

What Fastfwd says is true....
What Fastfwd says is true. If you want a current production Eames sofa to fold down you just have to figure out a way to remove those one way screws. I have a Compact sofa and I feel it is very comfortable. If you want my two cents I think you should look around for a nice used one. They are not real popular so it seems like there are not a lot of used ones available but when you do find one it is normally priced way below a new one.

very uncomfortable
Many years ago I bought one second hand and had it for only a few months because it was the main sofa in the family room, it was horribly uncomfortable so we sold it. In my experience it is not a sofa to curl up by the fire and read a book or to take a nap on.

Are we talking about the same thing?
... when we assess "comfort"? No, it's not the kind of sofa you curl up on to read a book or even sprawl out on while watching a movie. It was not designed for that purpose. I mean, duhh... there are not even arms on the sofa and they did not have home video players when it was designed.
However, to sit in upright I think the sofa is very comfortable. This is due in large part to the high back and the lumbar support offered by the angle of the lower back. The seat is rather shallow as the overall depth is quite shallow by most sofa standards. This fact, and the fact that it folded down and the legs come off for economical shipping is why it is named the "sofa compact".
At some point (I'm thinking in the 1970s) Herman Miller made two changes. They changed from phillips screws to one-way screws to fix the back in the upright position (too many people had pinched their fingers at the hinge in the back) and they added a center support under the seat. This center support is the single detail that differentiates vintage production. Actually, there is one more very small detail, but most people don't want you unscrewing the seat backs on their sofa to see if it's early production.
As for comfort, I have personally lived with a sofa compact and found it very comfortable. I know everyone has different preferences and different body shapes. The best way would be to just try one yourself. Many sofa designs that a lot of people hold in high regard I find to be unpleasant at best, a torture rack at worst. Flat seats with no pitch, low backs that are perpendicular to the seat, no lumbar support, seats that are too shallow or too deep... I have seen far too many sofa designs that shoot for high style and have no consideration for comfort or use.
Regarding vintage or new, I'm always going to vote vintage. It's the green choice, it has some history, and you can almost always buy a vintage sofa compact for less than a new one, even if you have to budget for reupholstery.

Few questions left
Thanks all for your support!
Very helpful!
Many new details I did not know! Especially about the 'folding' and the 'one screw'. Would be nice if anybody can post more pics on this. Then it would be even more clear to me.
The discussions about the comfort the Eames Compact Sofa offers are clear to me. I think it has to do whether you prefer the sofa as an object to sit on or as an object to chill out on. 🙂
Still I have my questions on the fabric left. Anybody any advices on that? What type of upholstery is strong and sustainable?
Does the current Eames Compact Sofa have springs on the underside as well?
Thanks!
DV

Can a current Eames Sofa Compact fold down too?
Dear posters,
Thanks for your help.
Two things are still unclear to me:
1. can the current production Eames Sofa Compact fold down too?
2. can the legs of the current production Eames Sofa Compact can come off too?
And it would be nice if someone who owns a current Eames Sofa Compact can post some pics of its sofa here. Especially of the wire-spring armature, the legs and the frame (and the way these are fixed), the back, the screws.
Pictures of a current production Eames Sofa Compact like on this this website would be great:
http://ancientpoint.com/inf/3356-eames_compact_sofa_1954_girard_hopsack_...
Thanks!
DV
http://ancientpoint.com/inf/3356-eames_compact_sofa_1954_girard_hopsack_...

Regarding fabric,
you can't go wrong with most of the wools from Maharam/Kvadrat, which are very high quality and come in many colors. Looking at the ones with a 100,000 wear rating:
Hallingdal is a classic and is beautiful but also a bit scratchy.
Steelcut and Steelcut Trio are a smoother wool than Hallingdal--Steelcut comes in solid colors and Trio is woven of three different color yarns but reads as a solid.
Outback I think is more of a boucle and some of the colorways are odd combinations of yarn colors. Others are ok though.
Remix is a finely woven, thin, smooth wool like men's suiting. Thin, smooth-textured fabrics like this can be hard to work with because the smallest lumps and bumps in the foam/batting show through. But it's nice fabric in great colors.
Tonus is my FAVE---fuzzy textured wool, very soft, comes in many luscious colors.
Anyone can order swatches from Maharam but you need a Tax ID number to buy yardage from them. Your upholster can order for you if you don't have a Tax ID.
There are other Maharam fabrics that are classic and also hard-wearing. They make the Girard textiles. You could also look at Knoll but their more durable fabrics are mostly polyester, I think.
And of course there are plenty of other appropriate fabrics out there that you might like a lot. These are just my recommendations for starters.
http://www.maharam.com/search?only=products&query=kvadrat

Hi DV,
A current Eames...
Hi DV,
A current Eames Sofa Compact today can still fold down, however, it will require you to remove the two one-way screws. I have actually just done it on the two that I explained above. One-way screws were added later in the production (80's, 90's 2000's maybe) because safety regulations required it. I just took mine out and replaced them with phillips screws that were identical but functional and kept the original one-way screws separately. With the right tool, you can undo the one-way screws from the back. It took me about five minutes and did not ruin the originals. Additionally, the legs to the current sofas do also come off. They are lovely and feel incredibly high quality, as I believe they are solid steel. There are two screws underneath that simply come off and the legs separate beautifully.
The wire-spring armature is the same and the legs are the same as original. The only difference between the 1954 version and the current version as far as I know are the screws that allow it to fold. Otherwise, all areas are absolutely identical.
I have always had difficulty posting personal pics up, however, I'd be happy to email them to you. Please provide your email and I can send you pictures of the details. Otherwise, contact me at drose115@me.com and I'll forward the pictures on over.
Kindly,
David

thanks again and does HM have a service for vintage parts?
Thanks for the extra infos about the fabric and about the screws!
I found this website as well:
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3ds-max-charles-eames-vitra-sofa-com...
But seems like this is a current production Eames Sofa Compact. And unfortunately I cannot zoom in properly to see the screws.
I might come back later with some extra questions.
Oh, does anybody know whether it's possible to order replacement screws, urethane foam directly at HermanMiller? Does HermanMiller offer such a service?
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3ds-max-charles-eames-vitra-sofa-com...

Video
I also found this video on YouTube.
Quite interesting is the cost-effective shipping of the vintage production
Eames Sofa Compact.
http://youtu.be/un8NmeFx2m0