These might be the biggest souvenirs I've picked up while on vacation.
I found a set of six ash Eames Evans DCWs (5-2-5 pattern) on Craigslist for about $165 a piece. In the brief time I had to look over them, they seemed to be in mostly original vintage condition save for missing labels and the oval backrest shock mounts being replaced with newer double circular ones.
When I got them back and started prepping them for shipping, it was apparent that they had been refinished at some point ? likely a long time ago based on the patina. This might explain why there were no remnants of labels if they were sanded off. Seat shock mounts turned out to be replacements as well. Back rests had also been drilled through and repaired pretty well (only visible inches away in bright light). The indentation for the original oval shock mount was butchered to accommodate the wider height of the newer circular replacements.
So the question is, because they're not in original condition, would it do harm to the value at this point to have them cleaned up - restore the oval mounts, fill in veneer chips, sand out stains/scratches, etc? My intention isn't to make them look new again, just to make them closer to how they should look.
Auxiliary question, after shipping and restoration, I'll likely be in them for about $300 a piece. Am I ahead at all on a set of repaired not-entirely-original Evans DCWs? They weren't quite the deal I thought they were when I picked them up.
Sorry for the grainy cell phone photo. This was at my friend's house right before we packed them up to ship back home.
Depends on what the point is
You said it yourself you will be in for $300 x 6 = $1800 for 6 chairs.
They will not be original and the amount of alterations made to them make them unsellable - you would not even know if the parts had been married together a long time ago - some backrests, even seats could be from a workshop of parts.
The bottom line is that they are lovely chairs, but at $1,800 you had best be the owner of them and enjoy them.
The long term value was already compromised and doing what you are planning to do to them is not much of a "further change" considering what you have described has already been done to them.
If I found a set of 6 chairs Eames DCW style that had already the current amount of modifications you are talking about for $1000, I would not purchase them because there is no value - from an investment point of view.
I recall an auction on-line from a government surplus location that was selling LCWs and DCWs and all had the backrests drilled through and had some replacement parts and they went for about $100 each - and I couldn't bring myself to enter a bid...too much damage done and if I ever did them up and one day sold them, I would have to declare what had been done - and that would have made them worth less.
Having said that, you have a lovely set of 6 chairs and if they are for your own use I am sure they are a bargain - but any investment value has been destroyed IMO.
There will be others on here with other views - this is just mine.
tinyarmada makes some...
tinyarmada makes some valid points....but are they unsellable?...no...
True, they will never garner the high margins these chairs realize now in original condition. Do you love them? Will you lovingly restore them and have them grace your dining table? Will you look at them / use them every day and say...dang, those are some good lookin' chairs? Will you have a good story to tell about how you got them? Don't worry then...you are already ahead.
You could easily spend that much and more on some of those dreary parson chairs...
Should you want to sell them in a few years, surely you could at least get close to what you put into them and come out about even. That wouldn't be the worst would it?
New they run about $600 or more plus tax and imo just not as nice as a vintage one.
Who knows what the value of anything will be in the future...on any given day for that matter...Enjoy them...
Thanks
Thanks for the responses.
I definitely got over excited seeing the 5-2-5 pattern. More than anything, I think I hoped for value to validate the effort getting them all the way back home ? 800 miles away. There are worse ways to spend $1000 on furniture (and definitely better ways).
Lately, I've had the urge to replace all my newer production pieces with old ones. There's something about having designs as they were originally seen by the designer.
These will be going up against an old old Saarinen tulp table, replacing newer production Wegner wishbones. Old better than new in my mind right now.
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