My adventure towards a Charles Eames Lounge chair.
A couple of months ago I saw the Charles Eames lounge chair for the first time.
after some consideration I started looking at the places where I could buy this wonderful lounge chair.
When I started looking, a new world opened up. A lot of people are offering this chair. I didn't know where to start and what to look for.
After some investigation I notices a couple big groups of retailers
PS: The chair was patented in the 50's, but a patent only lasts 20 years, so by now, everyone can make them
The original ones like Vitra in Europe and Herman Miller in the United States.
They have always been official retailers and will probably give the best quality (together with certificate and production number)
Unfortunately they are also the most expensive and we're looking at a price around $6000 to $8000
This is above the amount of money I want to spend on this.
Next category is the one of the better "reproductions".
They are sold for a price around $2000 by online retailers like steelform.com
The last category is from Japan/China where you can get a chair for about $1000
For me personally I decided to go for the middle option hoping I would get a good quality replica.
So I contacted Steelform.com since I liked their site and they have a contact number that you can actually call.
So I called....
I got immediately Virginie on the phone who helped me further and explained me about the different categories that you can find on the internet.
I also had questions about the wood type and she immediately was able to give full explanation about the wood and also about the leather.
One week later I even got a letter with 6 samples of leather of my choice so that I could see the actual leather I wanted to choose.
So I decided to go ahead and order my lounge chair with palisander wood and black leather.
This order was placed on the 21st of december and I was told that he would arrive here in Belgium by the end of January......
TO BE CONTINUES
bgillettephoto,To use a...
bgillettephoto,
To use a better and more accurate analogy, buying well made knock off furniture is alot like buying a replica 1955 Porsche 550 spyder. The replica 550 looks just the same, handles and performs much better than the original and you wont hesitate to actually drive it as its price is a mere fraction of an actual (super rare) 550 spyder.
So.. why pay nearly $4000 for an authorized Saarinen Womb Chair when you can buy a good knock off for $1000?
99.999% of your house guests wont know the difference and if someone spills a milkshake on it, get it cleaned or buy another.
Another good example is the licensed Herman Miller Plastic chairs VS. the Modernica fiberglass versions which are actually superior to the licensed versions.
Foxxy
I think you and I have talked about this before, but where is this mythical "good knockoff" of the Womb chair for $1000? The only ones I ever see are horrible, and I don't think it makes sense to even suggest the "Beck vs. Porsche" argument unless there's a copy that's a whole lot more faithful to the Knoll chair's design.
The thread linked below includes comparison photos of my Womb and the knockoff that everyone sells:
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/th...
More? Ok...
First one is the real thing, obviously.
Second one--wtf is going on with the ottoman cushion??
Third one--note how the chair sits directly on the chrome frame instead of floating above it. And how the legs on the chair stick out in front of the chair edge.
I can see not fretting about relatively minor points like this if all you want is the overall appearance of a womb chair. But this kind of sloppiness (especially the cushions, which are really easy to do right)makes me wonder what they skimped on structurally. And even for "just" $800 I want a chair that isn't going to break in a year or two or three.
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