Questions about Early Eames Lounge  

In this case it might be
that provenance supplies value and interest, perhaps substantially more than the artifact might offer on its own.
If it were mine, I'd try to document the history of the piece with as much support material as I could find before doing a single thing to try to "restore" the chair.

Max De Pree - Son of Herman Miller founder
About 4 or 5 years ago there was a Herman Miller furniture exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. One of the pieces in the show was Max De Pree?s own early 670 Lounge and Ottoman. The funny thing is that his chair had been repaired at some point by drilling the sides and putting bolts through them. The repairs and since been reversed and the drill holes had been patched and filled but you could tell they had been there.

Thanks for the comments......
Thanks for the comments... good suggestion on finding more elegant bolts and/or countersinking them. I agree that the value to us is in the history of the chair along with the provenance of where it has been. Having it in rougher condition also means that our kids can use it whenever they want without us feeling that it is an untouchable artifact! It's actually pretty darn comfortable even after all of its use and still looks great from across the room!
I've already started to dig around for photos from the club and found the chair pictured with some gentlemen sitting in it probably during the early 1980s from a book on the Cliff Dwellers. The Historic Society has a collection of photos and pamphlets of the club lounge from the mid-early 60s that I am going to go look at. I was thinking it would be really cool to find a shot from that time period. We'll see what I can find.

Lucky kid. I had to wait 28 y...
Lucky kid. I had to wait 28 years before I had one to sit in!

Restore it, but do so carefully!
Hi There, you have found yourself a wonderful project, but as others have said, one that must be handled carefully. I've worked on a good few of these in the past and have one now that needs a similar repair and also had non-original upholstery. Also, it appears that your cushions are most likely vinyl, awfully shiny for leather. One way or another, however, there seem to be two proper options for how to address this chair.
Option 1: Restore it to near perfection. This involves:
New cushions, $1500 or so
New shock mounts from Herman Miller $350
A proper professional refinishing and repair of the holes $750 or so
Option 2: Restore it to use and enjoy, to ensure that the chair is safe and in nice shape for the coming years. This involves:
-Sending it to a craftsman for a dutchman inlay to repair the holes $300
-Polish the bases yourself $9 for a tube of Wenol Metal Polish
-Refinish the chair yourself!!!!! You will love the process. You need to prepare yourself with some odorless mineral spirits, linseed oil, and sand paper. I'd say you'll invest 50 bucks and it will look almost as good as new. Research the process to refinish an Eames lounge. There are a couple of good sources online.

How about
just purchasing a set of used armrests on ebay that are worn but not torn and leave the screws as is. You are going to have your kids sitting in it so best to leave it as is. Just my opinion.

Or you could give it some pin...
Or you could give it some pinstripes and hotrod it like Bespoke Modern LA does.

How to disassemble the Eames Lounge Chair
http://vimeo.com/13482542