Question about oiled palisander on an Eames Lounge Chair  

wood and UV light
most woods darken with exposure to UV light and/or oxygen when they are newly cut. And when the wood reaches its maximum of darkness, the UV starts bleaching it.
This is speculation, and I could be entirely wrong, but I believe that what is happening is in the beginning UV light is facilitating oxidation of the wood when it is newly exposed to air/light. And the oxidized wood is darker by nature. And this is counteracted by a slower process of the UV breaking down the wood itself, which results in molecules that are lighter by nature. And as a final note, darker wood absorbs more UV, so the UV through the initial darkening makes the wood more prone to UV bleaching.
And that nonsense said, there are a lot of variables, and different woods are different. There is probably someone here who has first-hand experience with a new Eames lounge chair. That would be the gospel truth compared to my pseudo scientific babbling.

"Palisander" What the heck is it?
Until Herman Miller ID's the actual species, we must assume it is 'dalbergia nigra' or, more commonly, "Brazilian rosewood". The color and grain figure of this species can range from stunning to meh. Of course HM is going to choose the best samples for their marketing materials.
If those are pictures of your chair, I'd be pleased if I were you. Yeah, you didn't get much of the heavy brown/black streaking, but it's still a pleasing grain figure compared to some I've seen. I don't think the contrast will change much over time. More likely that the reddish tone will turn towards brown.
A few images of different samples at the link. Be sure to click on the "fact sheet".
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/rosewood,%20brazilian.htm

My chair
Yes, those are pictures of my chair.

Santos Palisander from one...
Santos Palisander from one of the premier veneer suppliers in the country
http://www.mbveneer.com/pdf/Santos%20Palisander.pdf
http://www.mbveneer.com/pdf/Santos%20Palisander.pdf

Thank you, norm.
That helps a bit. Common names are are often confusing and misleading, intentionally or otherwise.
I still think Acidshort got a good-looking set.
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/rosewood,%20bolivian.htm

symmetry
I do like that my chair is very symmetrical in its appearance. I do like the pop that is on the ones with the dark black though. I don't think anyone would call mine ugly. 🙂

Appearance
I think that when it is more red with less black it looks like a younger wood? Maybe thats why I like the dark look, makes it look more mature. This is obviously the opinion of a non wood savvy person though. 🙂

A beard can do that.
If you're male that is. Right up to the moment it just makes you look old.
About the time you notice that your chair has mellowed to a dark brown, you'll have decided that you prefer the youthful blush.
It's the way these things tend to go, IME.

I wouldn't have guessed it wa...
I wouldn't have guessed it was an Oiled Palisander version of the chair. What's the difference in terms of appearance between the oiled and regular palisander?
This is a regular palislander.

Well I paid for an oiled.
How am I supposed to know the difference if I've never seen an example of either?

I think there was some...
I think there was some miscommunication here, Acidshort. On my previous post, I meant to post a picture of my regular palisander, just to show how similar mine and yours look. For some reason, it still hasn't appeared. I hope it'll work this time.

Yours actually looks a bit ni...
Yours actually looks a bit nicer than my oiled palisander example. Herman Miller really chooses the best ones to use in their marketing materials, and I suspect they deepen the reds in photoshop to give it a similar appearance to the brazilian rosewood they used up until the late 1980s. The santos palisander is more orange to the naked eye. Then again, there is a lot of variation in color and grain with this wood. My palisander LCWs have some very dark lines.
I just recently gave mine its first coat of oil after a year and it does seem to have darkened quite a bit while improving the grain contrast. I'm sure that effect will increase over time. You could also use an oil with a little bit of varnish in it if you want to give it that reddish tint.

Example
Do you have an example of your chair that you can show?

picking from the factory
Has anyone heard of being able to make requests for wood grain selection from the HM factory upon ordering? I am wondering for any future purchases.