Hello
I am looking for a black Poul Kjærholm PK31 3 Seater sofa and a PK31 armchair.
I have been browsing the different sites that offer these products, but I am not sure which of them are serious businesses and sell quality furniture.
I looked at:
xxx
xxx
xxx
Which of these (if any) can be trusted?
Do you have any other recommendations?
(P.S. I am only looking for replicas 🙂 - can't afford the "real thing" from Fritz Hansen.
To the editor: I thought I could write the names of the repro shops - as long as I didn't link to them.
Edited by Design Addict: No links to unlicenced repro shops.
Second edit: Please respect the rules of this forum!
The answer to the question...
The answer to the question in the title of your thread, as long as we are talking about current production, is 'from Fritz Hansen'.
Fritz Hansen is the only manufacturer that currently produces The Kjaerholm Collection, which includes the PK31/2/3 easy chair and sofa.
It is worth noting that Poul Kjaerholm was an uncompromising man with extremely exacting standards that stretched down to the very smallest detail. Even hidden joints had to be perfectly executed. Today, almost 30 years after his death, nothing gets released without the involvement and approval of Hanne Kjaerholm, Poul's widow. Altering one of his designs, as FH did to Arne Jacobsen's 3100 chair after his death, would be unthinkable. So to me Fritz Hansen's PK pieces, although technically reissues*, are the real thing.
So if it is a Poul Kjaerholm piece you are after, are you sure you will be happy with a replica?
* Except perhaps for the PK25 which was produced at FH for a brief period while PK worked there, and the PK0, which was made as a prototype during the same time.
Yes ..
I can live with a...
Yes ..
I can live with a few details not being exactly as PK designed them.
Fritz Hansen are shooting themselves in the foot by demanding DKK 174.000 for the PK31/3. (£20.700,-)
The replicas sell for somewhere around £1.200,-
I will turn Your question around and ask - do you really think it is worth paying 17 times more just to make sure that the invisible joints and a few other things are exactly as originally designed?
I guarantee you that all the Fritz Hansen executives drive around in huge expensive cars and live in houses bigger than any of us would dream of because we - the buyers accept to be made fools of.
I acknowledge that fact that designers should be rewarded for their work! And we should protect their work for a long time. Even after their death.
But protecting it for 70 years after the designers death, as the law in Denmark states, is ridiculous.
The problem with the replica companies is only that some of them (maybe most of them) are frauds. My impression is that it is really a lottery when you buy from them. But then again - you can try the lottery 17 times and it will still be cheaper than buying from Fritz Hansen 😀
thomast, I agree that the...
thomast, I agree that the PK line is overpriced, though probably not much more so than many other classics. The PK collection needs a lot of manual work to get the finish required by PK. You also have to factor in the labor cost as these are made in Denmark, while most cheap replicas are made in China or some other low wage country.
Despite this price difference, my answer is still 'yes', I think it is worth paying that much more money for FH, even if it is well over what I could or would pay.
One reason is the opportunity cost of buying replicas or knock-offs, something that I think often gets overlooked by people trying to rationalise their purchases.
While a share of Fritz Hansen's profits is used to reward its top management and shareholders, other parts go to research and development so that new designers can have their furniture made. If you devote some time to study the history of furniture making, you will find that it is full of examples of ventures that would never have been possible without considerable investment in developing the skills, materials and equipment needed to put a new product on the market. Increasingly, responsible manufacturers also find that they need and want to invest in manufacturing methods that are good for the environment and their employees.
Where do you think the money for all this comes from?
Conversely, most companies churning out replicas or knock-offs are interested in one thing only: profit. They cut all possible corners to achieve their goals. And if you seriously believe that their executives do not "drive around in huge expensive cars and live in houses bigger than you would dream of" then you are the biggest fool of all.
But when you go ahead with your purchase, as you seem intent on doing, at least spare a thought to those paying 17 times more so that you can bring home a cheap replica. If they didn't, there would be nothing to replicate.
Edit: Typos.
I guarantee you that all th...
I guarantee you that all the Fritz Hansen executives drive around in huge expensive cars and live in houses bigger than any of us would dream of because we - the buyers accept to be made fools of.
sorry this is a dumb statement maybe good for the soviet Union in the 80s but no one talks like this .
,Fritz Hansen Herman Miller,
Knoll is not obliged to give furniture away just cause we want it cheap.
He who has the gold makes the golden rule. They built up this line,natured it for 50 years and now they have a right to enjoy what ever they can sell it for,. selling 17 times is rather high but it is a knockoff, they are made in third world countries for pennies on the dollar. The Knoll Barcelona sells doe 3200. Alphavilles 700 cant tell them if they were sitting side by side but knoll still sells thousands a year and they still have a 8 week waiting period,
If you do not want to pay the high price that is ok and your right, but there are serious buyers and collectors that always will, only want the original.
I for one would rather have the original or none at all. only thing i have ever broke my cardinal rule on is four Nelson clocks, that are so dead on I have a problem knowing which is made by vitra, or the Chinese, cant afford it wait till you can or find something else, but 100 bucks a way a month, till you can afford it all then you will feel good about saving for the real deal.
Thomast, I very nearly bought a knockoff PK sofa,
but I lucked out and bought a beautiful Baughman Directional loveseat for less than $750.00 including shipping, but I VERY NEARLY bought the PK knockoff sofa!
I don't think that it's extremely difficult for those Chinese furniture makers to make a structually sound, lasting PK sofa, so comparing the prices, I'd give it a shot.
Below is an eBay link showing a few PK sofa being sold for a fraction of the going Fritz Hansen prices.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R40&d...
Fritzhansenism!!
It was a bad question to begin with but you don't deserve such bad advise.
My advise is to look for the the pre-Fritzhansen originals at a good price. They are significantly higher quality and more meaningful to own. They are also a fraction of the current license holder prices.
Fritzhansen quality has degraded in the last 5 - 10 years to the extent that I have nearly cut myself on the edges of pk22s and folding stools. The edges are not polished down. They are constantly making "design upgrades" to the classic furniture which commoditize parts and facilitate production efficiencies that can be communicated in Chinese. The products read Denmark now, they do not read Made in Denmark.
You definitely shouldn't buy what you originally intended. Those are made on Mars and unless you are a Martian you will be inviting serious regret.
As for all the Fritzhansenism in this group, this is the crowd that believes its own marketing. If you don't work for Fritzhansen and yet promote Fritzhansen, you are being very silly or perhaps basing your opinoin on 10 year old ata. And the mid-Western US swaggerism above is just advice coming from the absolute root of the problem. Those days are over. One should remain a bargain hunter and demand the best at the same time.
room606 and Gustaf
Thanks...
room606 and Gustaf
Thanks for Your enlightening replys.
I do listen and You do move me from my standpoint.
However, my original post wasn't a request for standpoints on morality issues 🙂
I merely wanted to find out if any of You know where to buy quality replicas. But You all seem to jump into defending FH rigorously. And my impression is that you do that without knowing too much about the quality of some of the better repros.
Gustaf - you really idolize FH too much I think.
And room606 - you bring him a bit down to earth again.
So Your posts together have nice balance 🙂
At 70-80k (DKK) I would buy the original over the repros - no doubt. And that is still 7-8 times the prices of the repros.
Room606, do you have more...
Room606, do you have more examples of "updates" from Fritz Hansen to their classical line of furniture? Knowing how big a perfectionist Kjærholm was, it angers me that the manufacturer in charge of handling his legacy lets the quality of Kjærholm's masterpieces "deteriorate" deliberately. How about Arne Jacobsen, is it the same case?
I've not heard that Fritz Hansen's
furniture is substantially lower quality than they used to be.
I'm sure they've made some alternations on products that have been in constant production for years, like Herman Miller and Knoll.
but other than some grumbling over prices and a few minor issues with Herman Miller and Knoll, the quality remains high, and I assume it's the same with Fritz Hansen. But the difference in price makes Fritz Hansen's stuff priced over the budget of people wanting to buy their stuff for the home.....unless you're Prince Charles, Madonna, or Donald Trump!
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com