If you have a 60s Eames and get the ratty old leather replaced at a local store, but leave everything else intact, what does this do to the resale value? Increase? Decrease? Same? The chair is no longer original, and is partly a repro. If the chair was worth $2500 in original state, what would the chair be worth in its refurbished state?
Suggestion-
Sell it and you will establish the market value for your area.
If you have an average local upholsterer do the work be sure to give specific instructions and have them use the original cushions as their model, because THEY WILL SCREW IT UP otherwise. But never mind that because new leather/cushions will cost a thousand bucks anyway-
Hi Housekebab,
I have own...
Hi Housekebab,
I have owned many Eames lounges and I believe that I can answer your question quite concretely. A chair with ratty, but not torn 60's leather holds a much higher value than a badly reupholstered lounge. To define badly reupholstered, I would consider the cushions to almost always be badly redone unless they come from someone very familiar like Graham Mancha, Hume Modern, or Herman Miller directly. The cushions almost always look terribly out of proportion unless they are sent to someone who is very familiar with them. In order to get that kind of quality, however, you're looking at 1500+ most likely.
I personally love the down filled 60's cushions and would much rather own a chair with ugly but original cushions than a reupholstered chair. If you are intending on reselling this chair, reupholstering it will not be a wise financial decision.
I would consider the cushions inexistent if they are badly redone. Keep the chair as/is and enjoy it or sell it. Please post a picture of the chair if possible. Maybe the original cushions could be refurbished.
If you're spending that kind of $$$,
Why not just sniff out an Eames lounge that doesn't need any attention? Perhaps you might be able to find a newer example. Personally, I'd rather have the older down filled model with patina...but then there are usually shock-mount and glide issues.
just a thought,
Old Mark
If you are going to get that detailed
Don't we need to know the kind of veneer, subjective beauty of its grain, color of the leather, quality of the leather, condition of the shock mounts, likewise the glides, venue of sale, time the seller is willing to sit on it, general condition of the world's economy, and whether tomorrow's Vanity Fair does an article on Eames design, and, and, and.
The world isn't rational enough to factor in all those variables. I know I'm not. You can sell, I mean buy, the chair for much more and much, much less.
The crowd is correct, Housekebab.
With all due respect, you are asking a very general question that cannot be answered unless many details are thoroughly addressed as Leif mentioned. Leif, Mark, and Lunchbox are all great resources. You are getting a stinging response from many of us because you are not taking into account the details that we care about. Show us photos and we can gain a further understanding of the piece. If you would rather not share these details with us, we cannot be of any help and can only tell you that you should not be asking about valuations in the first place. I don't mind giving you a rough estimate, but we don't have any real information to make that decision from. A reupholstered chair done by anyone other than Herman Miller or another well recognized professional in the design world will not be worth much. Almost everyone else screws them up terribly, so don't say that the leather would be nicely done if you haven't seen it yet. Give us some real info and detailed questions and perhaps we can be more helpful. If you just want theoretical questions "as a buyer", we will not be much fun in our responses.
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