Industria Argentina Barcelona Chairs  

Corrosion on
the legs means they're not stainless steel -- no ?
Some answers are easy !

Therefore
pitting on the chrome might be able to be polished away.
(a proprietary cleaner and wire wool would do this)
Any loss to the plating would require replating

While SDR is mostly correct . . .
. . . "corrosion" can occur in some types of stainless steel. Type 304 will exhibit brown tea-staining oxidation if exposed to corrosive conditions (e.g. street salt in Chicago). While this type of corrosion is different from carbon steel corrosion and does not affect the structural properties of the metal, it certainly has an impact visually.
Having said that, I would guess chromed steel for these chairs as well in the absence of any additional info.

It's easy to know the difference between stainless steel and chromed steel by the use of a magnet. The magnet will stick on the chromed steel and does not stick on the stainless.

Once again, vintagestique is mostly correct.
The majority of common-use stainless steels are austinitic, and not magnetic (including all of the Type 300 series). However there are quite a few ferritic stainless steel alloys, which are magnetic. Therefore, the magnet test may offer an indication of metal type, but is certainly not definitive.
Similar to the corrosion issue, stainless steels have a much wider range of physical properties than most people expect.

Thanks so much
for everyone's input. I already tried a metal polish, which cleaned up all the rust but the pitting remains. The magnet stuck, so I will assume from the guidance that the legs are chromed steel. Given that, I'm not sure the frames are worth trying to rehab--since it would involve trying to repair a considerable amount of corrosion, in addition to getting new cushions amde. Please do let me know if anyone disagrees...Thanks again. dvk

polite advice.
Consider passing on this project. The frame needs re-plating, the cushions are going to be quite expensive to create, and in the end you'll still own a knock-off. I hope that I'm not discouraging you, as I am quite often wrong.
just a thought,
Mark