What Leather for JH503 Wegner Chair  

What do you mean by refinishing? What tone will the wood be when you're done with them?
I personally don't care for leather that is close to the wood in color or value. I like contrast. I like espresso brown more than black, most of the time, with most woods.
Spinneybeck is good quality leather and I believe it's used on new high Danish designs that are still in production.

Hi Spanky,
As you can see the chairs have some scratches on the arms and need some restoration. First step the chairs will be stripped, then refinish the imperfections before the oil.
I am not sure about the tone yet but i guess they will be quite clear, and i would like to find something that could have a nice patina with the years.

Goodness! Are all four arms like that?? That's really unfortunate.
There are people here who are way better versed in dealing with that kind of thing than I am. I would just suggest that before you do anything to the finish, try going over it with just #0000 steel wool and teak oil, preferably a brand with no added varnish so you get an idea of what the wood looks like on its own without added sheen. You can always do a varnishy-oil later if you want more sheen.
Looks to me like they've got a beautiful patina already (damage excepted). You'd be surprised what steel wool and oil can do to enhance that. Stripper will dry the wood out to the point where it looks like unfinished wood. Oil will bring it back but if that's an oil finish on there now, there's no need to use stripper, in my opinion.

vgmabres –
From the first set of pictures you posted, it appears that your chairs are oak. If this is the case, I would avoid steel wool, as iron particles left behind will eventually react with tannins in the oak and turn your chairs gray/black.
I would follow spanky's suggestions but use 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper or a scotchbrite pad in place of steel wool.
Always lusted after these chairs – good luck!

Hi all, thanks for the tips.
I am actually in contact with a reputable restoration pro here in NY and the guy is confident that he could do retouching work to fix the scratches after what nobody could ever tell they were like this... Sounds too good to be true what do you think? I am very tempted to leave them in good hands.

Take some good before and after photos. That close-up looks more like gouges and chips rather than scratches. Not sure how durable any outer edge fill repair is going to be, let alone what it would look like.
I'd be more inclined to leave the wood mass as is and just clean/recondition the wood finish.

These chairs are desirable, fairly valuable pieces. I am not usually the one to say this, but I really do not mind the condition they are in from what I can see, and I think that it might be worth thinking about whether to leave them untouched would be better.
I am also hesitant to believe anyone who says that nobody will ever be able to tell that the damage to the hand rests was there. These are high profile pieces that may one day see very significant scrutiny, and there are people whose profession is evaluating furniture for this sort of thing. More precisely, what is the restorer's plan? Those scrapes could be sanded out, but that would debauch the chairs. They could be patched and faux painted, but that is definitely not perfect fix either. I really can't think of a fix that I would not be able to see if I were scrutinizing them and thinking of spending high retail money.
I personally feel that they are too significant a design (even though many Round chairs were made), and not damaged enough to warrant tampering with.

Thank you for sharing your views. My first call was not touching them except replacing the seat leather that is very disgraceful. But that was until i had, two different times, splinters inside my hands when grabbing them by the arms. I find these arms so attractive that I want to ruffle the you know... 🙂
I feel I have only two choices then. First, resell them and leave the decision to someone else, or take a risk and trust this guy who is an art and conservation trained professional and could possibly bring the arms back to a more desirable condition... is it that unorthodox? You can find "mint" JH Round Chair pieces that were sold after restoration though...

I'm inclined to agree with Leif---leave as is. If they were mine, I'd probably just avoid touching any parts that are likely to shed splinters. Or I'd sell both and put the money towards one (maybe two) in better shape! You never know what'll turn up.
Teakhound, I've heard the no steel wool on oak thing before and I do believe someone here refuted it awhile back. I think it may be an issue if you use steel wool on bare oak.

Yep, something like that.
http://forums.finewoodworking.com/fine-woodworking-knots/finishing/may-h...
I also just looked at an old Wegner CH23 chair, mostly oak, that I cleaned up with steel wool and oil about 6-7 years ago. Even under magnification I can't see a single speck of black or gray discoloration on it.
That said, I'd sooner use brass wool than sandpaper, though---sandpaper will remove a thin layer of patina whereas #0000 metal wool just gets the grime if used correctly, with plenty of oil. At least that's been my experience.

I think leif is right in that the only fix that makes sense is a patch and recolor. I know people can do it, but you'd most likely be dealing with paint or toner that may wear off in time, and it would likely also require a topcoat that will get you further away from the original wood finish. Unless this guy has some kind of magic filler that requires no color... I don't know. I say go for it, if only because I'd selfishly like to see the results. If your plan is to sell them either way, though, I think it probably wouldn't be worth the expense. As for the leather, I also vote darker. Possibly even a very dark burgundy? Good luck.

Hi mgee76, I like darker leather but I find it very "corporate" if you see what i mean. Instead i would like them to get a residential look and I am very close to give choose a natural leather that could hopefully get a nice patina with time.
I really don't want to let them go but the damaged arms headache really tortures me. What do you guys think could be a fair price-range to ask for them in such condition? I am providing more pics.

Those photos are nice overall shots but they don't show any damage close enough to be evaluated through photos alone. You need a closeup like that first one of EVERY area of damage, including undersides of arms. Or if all four arms have pretty much the same damage in the same places, then at least show all essential areas of one arm.
That said...this forum isn't for getting appraisals. But maybe someone can give you a percentage number by which this chair would devalued for that kind of damage---approximately. You can then do your own research by looking at auction results online. Prices on unsold chairs don't mean a lot because things often end up selling for less than what the dealer would like or what the auctioneer estimated.

Since the leather (actually I believe it is vinyl?) is not original, and is not stapled on very cleanly, including leaving another layer of red vinyl? underneath, I would have to re-assess my opinion not to re-do the upholstery. I see no reason not to properly re-do past mistakes, as long as it is done right: remove all the old stuff, staple it on in an orderly way. You should be able to find a photo of the underside of one of these and give it the respect it deserves by duplicating it as much as possible.
I would be curious to see more of the damage to the arms....

Hi Spanky,
you're right the forum is not the right place for appraisals and it is a one of the mentioned Basic Rules. Sorry for that.
Refinishing service is not cheap but I think worth it if this is done properly. I'm tempted to give it a shot and see how it works. We're not talking about museum pieces at the end..