What color green is this eames shell chair?  

It's not seafoam, to be sure
in the 1952 catalog, it showed 6 colors available;
Elephant Hide Grey
Beige (Griege)
Parchment
Lemon Yellow
Sea Foam Green
Bright Red
What I don't know is the color history of the real fiberglass shells.
When was black introduced? Your green probably is called 'Kelly", 'cause it's a real green. Probably went into production for a time.

The Kelly green colour is a m...
The Kelly green colour is a more bright and juicy grass green. A sort of Pop green colour. The colour of the green chair in the picture I've seen described as Forrest green many times before.

I found this web page on '62...
I found this web page on '62 shells:
http://www.eamesoffice.com/vintage/sales_materials_detail.php?id=27
Anyone have other web pages with info on shell colors. I'll take more photos today and post them to my Flickr page.
Anyone have another green shell out there for comparison??

Lounge Chair
Hey Jobie,
I was looking through your photos on flickr. I regret to say but I think you may have been had. It certainly is a genuine chair - but I see little about it that would indicate that it was a pre-production model.
Velcro
1 - The metal fasteners on your chair are the strip kind (not the pressed steel round kind) which indicate a slightly later production.
2: the velcro is cut and glued at odd angles. And, I've never seen velcro used or mentioned in any of the Eames other works.
3: Velcro was invented in Sweden only 3 years before the chair debuted. In my mind its doubtful that it would be a first choice material for the chair.
Snaps - the snaps were used from the very beginning to keep the cushions from sliding. You can see the snaps in the stills from Eames 670 Lounge (film) But - the snaps were never drilled through the base of the chair, as they were on yours.
Drill holes in the ottoman - Like the velcro these drill holes are sloppy - they are done in a diamond pattern, but without the use of a guide - each diamond is differently shapped. Again, its doubtful that such sloppiness would be tolerated on models - especially on a chair that in all other appearances is the production model.
There are two possibilities: One is that the gentleman is ripping you off by passing his own DIY additions the chair as 'tests' done by the Eames Office. Everyone loves a little glory and everyone exaggerates. If you have his name you can cross check it with those people who worked in the Eames Office up until the release of the chair. Check Eames Design - it lists people working in the Office by year.
Second possibility is that this man worked for Herman Miller, and made some modifications on his own chair or a chair kicking around the factory. The Eames Office was in California, the factory was in Michigan. Historically it may be impossible to determine if the Eames directed him to make these changes or if he did them on his own. Also - Vitra has been incredibly aggressive in tracking down and buying Eames prototypes, models, and such - they have recreated Charles Eames' office in their design museum. I'd ask myself 'Why did they overlook this chair?'
Either way - its a chair that will be beautiful if the right restorer gets hold of it!

Thanks for the input on the E...
Thanks for the input on the Eames Lounge but let me explain a little before we jump the gun. It was a "test chair", and not really even a true lounge. He explained that there were thousands and thousands of these "garbage chairs" sitting around (his words). He explained that after Charles Eames gave final approval for the 670 Lounge design, Charles Eames ordered that the majority of the test parts be destroyed at the factory. The guy I bought them from was allowed by Charles Eames to assemble two chairs from the parts that were sitting around (one for him and one for his wife). He said that he took the best parts that he could to assemble the two chairs. However, he said most of what was lying around had drilled holes or was poor rosewood grain, or that the plywood wasn't holding well. These parts were NEVER meant to see production daylight.
Also, he was able to take cushions - they are the goosdown fill. Because the wood parts were tested on, this chair origonly used only a single snap per cushion. NO CLIPS AT ALL! He said it worked OK for about three years, obviously not a good design. After that, he said that the cushions wouldn't hold well. Also, that the snaps (Glued on. not all of them went through the wood) were falling off. He said he didn't use the chair for 10 years after that. Then, when finally pulled it out of the attic, he put the newer clips on to try to get the cushions to stay. Then, in the late 80's he had to use the velcro.
As for Vitra tracking down prototypes - THIS IS NOT A PROTOTYPE. I nor he ever claimed it to be. This chair was simply assembled from "test parts" to create a lounge. He didn't work at the Eames Office in Ca, he was a factory worker here in Michigan. He told me that they would get orders to try this button and that snap and these clips and that... He got to meet the Eames a few times and was asked about his opinion about some of the design ideas on the 670. He doesn't claim to be anything more than a former employee that had the oportunity to work on the 670 line.
Honestly, if you were there and saw the picture of him with Charles and Ray, you wouldn't have doubted him either. I wanted to buy the pic, but it seemed rude to ask. I paid $200 for the lounge. Why would he lie to make $200? He also sold me the 8 fiberglass chairs, a MINT LCM, and a MINT Nelson tray table.
I know you guys know a lot about HM and other midcentury history, that's why I post here. In this case though, I'm inclined to believe the 90 year old guy that had a pic of him with Charles and Ray at the factory.

I posted more pics of the 8 shell chairs that I have.
Just click on the link. I'm trying to figure out what color green these are. Olive green?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11003012@N02/2457415806/in/set-72157604343087880/

Yes, I think 'Olive Green...
Yes, I think 'Olive Green Dark' on the color chart from 1962. For some reason, most of the chairs I have seen in this color and also some of the other colors produced in the late 60's- early 70's, have a lighter dot pattern in the fiberglass at the back of the chairs...

OMG
What an interesting man. I've been interested in the process of making and evolution of great pieces of design. Especially Eames chairs.
I want to know more though. How did you find this guy? What other stories did he have?

The Eames Lounge was posted...
The Eames Lounge was posted on craigslist but for much more. I happend to be first to respond. His friends were listing it for him, and then sent me to his place. He gave most of his collection to his kids. But he still had some pieces around.
The Eames Lounge didn't look pretty when I first saw it. The cushions look like someone took a shotgun to them. The good thing is that there isn't any edgewear or chips to the wood. The patina is VERY heavy. I'll probably just leave the chair alone though and pick up some used cushion off ebay. I plan to just keep the chair and share the story through the years...

great looking green color
great looking green color

Jobie
No offense was meant. I've been dealing in MCM for a number of years now and its been my experience that whenever there's a really fantastic story it should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Your filling in the details, and especially the price you paid certainly makes much more sense! I do love stories like this! 😀
Are you going to restore the chair and keep it, or sell it?

No problems LuciferSum. I...
No problems LuciferSum. I figured that it needed some explanation. I think I'm going to just keep it for now, but who knows with gas prices being what they are! Besides, it doesn't have HM tags, and with all these odd snaps and buttons, I doubt it would pull in the financial return on ebay that it should. Weird that a New HM Eames lounge can get $3000+ on ebay, but one with historical significance would probably be dismissed by most of the admirers' of the design. I'll probably sell the other things I got from him though.
I was told that the other chair he had was sold on ebay last year to a Surgeon in Ohio. It had the same drill holes under the ottoman and weird vents under the seat. It was in much better condition than mine.
I had some work done on the cushions, they were destroyed. I'm getting them back this week. I'll post photos of the complete chair when I get the chance.
Thanks again for the input though!

.
Great story, old people are usually telling the truth, post pics...

weird eames 670 style chair
Hi
just did a search for eames 670 with vent in seat and up popped your messages. i just purchased a pair of eames 670 style chairs, i have yet to collect them but from the photos they seem to have many hallmarks of the early chairs. ie 5 ply wood, black leather, brown zippers, and much evidence of age in wear to leather and lifting rosewood veneer.
however it has extra features that baffle me, ie, a darkish rounds label is partially visible in one photo near the centre support of the seat and an off white round vent in the seat as well as extra attachment round the seat bottom of unknown purpose, also the leather seems to be sewn from three sections on each cushion.
i will take pics of all features when they arrives and was wondering if you had pics of your chair.
my chairs are supposed to be from an old artists place on bribie island? but then every salesperson knows the value of a colorful tale 😉
simon