Eames Lounge Chair copies... worth it?

[vestaviascott]

I ordered my chair today and decided to go with UrbanFurnishing.com's "Ultra Premium Version" of the ELC reproduction. The folks I spoke to over the phone today were helpful and patient to answer all of my questions. At my request, they sent custom photos from their offices and warehouse based on my specific areas of concern.

My search was down to Rove Concepts and Urban Furnishing. The best information I can gather indicates that Urban Furnishing and IFN Modern sell the same chair, Model PV021-1, sourced from Yadea Furniture in Shenzhen China ). Rove, Urban Furnishing and IFN Modern are the only companies I could verify that are selling the most realistic reproductions of the original chair south of $2k. They all share the same feature for feature components as the original - rubberized shock mounts, full PU injected foam cushions with deeply flowered buttons, double sided veneer with authentic fastening system, and built to the near exact molds as the original chair.

Had I gone with the Rove model, and I was definitely on the fence until the last minute, I would have had to pay a pretty steep shipping charge on top of the already higher price sticker. Otherwise, I could take a day off and make the 6 hour round trip drive up the road to their warehouse just north of Nashville and pick up the chair myself. Ultimately, I decided to have the UF model shipped to me (free shipping) and the price was right at $1099.00 all in. The Rove would have been around $1500.00 shipped or $1200 picked up at the warehouse (they are running a 35% discount to clear remaining inventory out).

Interestingly, the folks at Urban Furnishing had a Rove Concept's chair in the office for comparison. They sent me a few pics of the chairs side by side.

In the pics below the Rove is on the right and the UrbanFurnishing model is on the left. I wanted to compare the recline angle of the chairs, so I had the salesperson send me a pic to show the angle of both chairs profiles. As best I can tell, the two chairs are near identical except for the arm angles. I'm not sure which is truer to the original. I think both of these chairs are pretty phenomenal efforts by appearances.

Its interesting that the Rove model appears to have a bit less incline. It could be due to the camera angles involved (i had to cut and paste from 2 photos in order to get a composite where each chair was in the same profile view)

Hope this helps further the discussion. I've got several more pics if anyone is interested in specifics, let me know and I'll try to get them up.

Combined image showing the comparative apparent incline angle between the two chairs. The green bar lines on the left were simply duplicated and moved over to the other chair to compare the angular difference.

 

[twistoffat]



I love the Grand Repo, but honestly isn't it over priced too? The leather version starts at around $6.5K and the premium full aniline dyed nappa leather takes it up to $11K. These are all design objects and you end up paying a lot for that.

Two years ago Vitra had a special offer where the Grand Repos and Ottoman also came with an Eames carved stool for under 5000€ approx 5500USD. I got 35% discount so 3570 USD was more than okay for what I got. I never pay full price and there is always room for discount. Furniture has huge mark-ups and kitchens are the worst of all. I´m actually amazed at the effort so called genuine posters here are putting into paying full price for a fake, rather than trying to get the real thing at a discount. In hindsight I have to say the Grand Repos is probably a far superior chair to the Eames but if one came up at the right price I´d still buy it....original of course.

Oh just to clarify, I didn´t buy the leather version I went for cloth. Its warmer and you can wash the cover. Leather in summer if too sweaty.

 

[sbrentn]

I ordered my chair today and decided to go with UrbanFurnishing.com's "Ultra Premium Version" of the ELC reproduction. The folks I spoke to over the phone today were helpful and patient to answer all of my questions. At my request, they sent custom photos from their offices and warehouse based on my specific areas of concern.

My search was down to Rove Concepts and Urban Furnishing. The best information I can gather indicates that Urban Furnishing and IFN Modern sell the same chair, Model PV021-1, sourced from Yadea Furniture in Shenzhen China ). Rove, Urban Furnishing and IFN Modern are the only companies I could verify that are selling the most realistic reproductions of the original chair south of $2k. They all share the same feature for feature components as the original - rubberized shock mounts, full PU injected foam cushions with deeply flowered buttons, double sided veneer with authentic fastening system, and built to the near exact molds as the original chair.

Had I gone with the Rove model, and I was definitely on the fence until the last minute, I would have had to pay a pretty steep shipping charge on top of the already higher price sticker. Otherwise, I could take a day off and make the 6 hour round trip drive up the road to their warehouse just north of Nashville and pick up the chair myself. Ultimately, I decided to have the UF model shipped to me (free shipping) and the price was right at $1099.00 all in. The Rove would have been around $1500.00 shipped or $1200 picked up at the warehouse (they are running a 35% discount to clear remaining inventory out).

Interestingly, the folks at Urban Furnishing had a Rove Concept's chair in the office for comparison. They sent me a few pics of the chairs side by side.

In the pics below the Rove is on the right and the UrbanFurnishing model is on the left. I wanted to compare the recline angle of the chairs, so I had the salesperson send me a pic to show the angle of both chairs profiles. As best I can tell, the two chairs are near identical except for the arm angles. I'm not sure which is truer to the original. I think both of these chairs are pretty phenomenal efforts by appearances.

Its interesting that the Rove model appears to have a bit less incline. It could be due to the camera angles involved (i had to cut and paste from 2 photos in order to get a composite where each chair was in the same profile view)

Hope this helps further the discussion. I've got several more pics if anyone is interested in specifics, let me know and I'll try to get them up.

Combined image showing the comparative apparent incline angle between the two chairs. The green bar lines on the left were simply duplicated and moved over to the other chair to compare the angular difference.

The Urban Furnishing chair looks exactly like mine, with the exception of the snap on the inside of the plywood - I noticed that the underside of the cushion in your photo doesn't have the snap on it, but the plywood does. Strange, because the photos IFN sent me from their showroom also had the snaps, but my actual model doesn't. I looked at Urban Furnishing's product listing on Amazon and the customer photos show that the model sent also doesn't have snaps. Also, my cushion IS wrapped in Decron silk - I was incorrect about that earlier. I'm also not sure what the tape is for - under each piece is a little black fabric square. Maybe it's to hold in place some sort of protection from whatever is holding the tufting (so it doesn't scratch the plywood)? Here is a photo I took last night:

 

[vestaviascott]

@sbrentn - the pics showing the plastic black cushion back plates appear to be unfinished. These pics are from Chinese manufacturer's production warehouse (aka Yadea). Some of the items appear to be in mid production when they were photographed. I believe that accounts for lack of button snaps there. The tape you are referring to is what covers the button stay clip. If you've seen the YouTube video showing the making of the Chair at the HM production facility, the seamstress can be seen placing black tape over the button stays. The cushion in my pics above have not yet received tufting buttons based on the lack of string coming through the shell.

The video is below. Key frames are:

1) Shock Mount Detail and install > 6:36

2) Making of the foam sandwiched cushions > 9:12

3) Buttoning of the cushions (showing button strings, button stays and taping over them) > 10:05


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[modernman76]

Thanks for all the pics and thoughts. After all the reviews I read, and wading through the BS on both sides, I decided to buy the Rove. It should be here next week, so we'll see how good or bad it is. I'm optimistic that it will fit my needs.

 

[vestaviascott]

Thanks for all the pics and thoughts. After all the reviews I read, and wading through the BS on both sides, I decided to buy the Rove. It should be here next week, so we'll see how good or bad it is. I'm optimistic that it will fit my needs.

Congrats on your decision! Which leather & veneer did you opt for?

 

[modernman76]

Congrats on your decision! Which leather & veneer did you opt for?

I got the Milano Smoke leather with Rosewood Palisander veneer. I'm excited to see how it looks in person.

 

[twistoffat]

Once again the thread has become a promotional platform for particular manufacturers of fakes. Few posts yet an irrational desire to push the virtues of Rove and Co

 

[vestaviascott]

Once again the thread has become a promotional platform for particular manufacturers of fakes. Few posts yet an irrational desire to push the virtues of Rove and Co

Wut?

EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR COPIES... WORTH IT?

 

[Jr Mouse]



Wut?
EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR COPIES... WORTH IT?

He's commenting on the fact that there is a growing number of fairly new accounts popping up here that seem to know a lot about these companies and are quick to promote their virtues. A quick look at your own post history shows that your account was created five days ago and has only posted in this thread. If you want to pretend that doesn't look odd go right ahead.

 

[vestaviascott]

Fair enough, it is what it is.

I found this forum thread while searching for information on reproduction ELC options. My sole purpose is to share what I'm finding out - there's quite a bit of "fill in the blanks" over 59 pages of information. I'm the kind of person that digs in and keeps digging until I'm fairly certain I've got a good handle on the reality of a thing. I'm not there yet with the ELC, but I've wanted one as long as I can remember. The closest I can come, as I expect the majority of people contributing and reading this thread, is to get my hands on the most faithful reproduction I can afford.

With one of the most iconic pieces of furniture of our time, the reproduction market has a ton of information and misinformation. Speaking for myself, I'm trying to make the most informed decision possible and sharing what I find to help others do the same.

I just found it a bit "odd" to see a complaint about people discussing fakes in a forum thread titled "Eames loung chair copies"

As for "an irrational desire to push the virtues of Rove and Co", maybe there is some of that going on here, I don't know. They appear to have a target on their back as, like them or not, they have established themselves at or near the top of the reproduction market. Whether that's due to their price premium, their perceived quality or sheer hype, I can't say as I don't own their product.

With that being said, Rove (along with IFN Modern and likely others to follow) are soon to be out of the business of selling and marketing these chairs to the US customer base, so its a bit irrelevant at this point for anyone to be pushing an agenda to promote these companies.

For my part, I've already made the purchase. I decided to go with someone other than Rove. I would have went with IFN Modern but they are in the same position as Rove (liquidating current stock) and they don't have the color/veneer combination I'm looking for. If anything, you could perhaps say I'm pushing Yadea China who makes the chairs being sold by IFN and Urban Furnishing and, based on their indicated sales volume at Alibaba, many others. That's not my intent, but I could accept a perception in that direction, since I made a purchase based on a value judgment affirming their product and value proposition. They appear to have made the most accurate reproduction of Charles and Ray Eames visionary lounge chair and ottoman south of Zeeland.

 

[vestaviascott]

I´m actually amazed at the effort so called genuine posters here are putting into paying full price for a fake, rather than trying to get the real thing at a discount.

I can agree to an extent, I would not pay what some are asking for a reproduction when a used original can be bought for roughly the same cost. However, there are a few issues to overcome if one is going to try to score a licensed ELC (HM or Vitra) at a discount. Most important is availability of inventory.

There is scant availability locally or within reasonable driving distance - I'm in Vestavia Hills, Alabama so the markets of Nashville, Atlanta and Charlotte are within a few hours drive. I've been seaching craigslist in those markets for some time, the only lead I've uncovered appears to be a scammer posting all over the southeastern US (Bham, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Jacksonville, etc). He gives the same email address on all postings and never replies to inquiries. I started getting a ton of unsolicited sales calls after inquiring on his ad.

I'd love to have found an affordable original HM or Vitra ELC, but I gave up waiting on one to appear and accepted an $1100 reproduction that I'm willing to settle with for now. If that gets me at least part of the way to recreating the original experience that Charles and Ray had in mind, I'm good.

 

[Piobaire]

For 5k I might be persuaded to sell one of my original PiobChairs [sup]TM[/sup]

 

[Jr Mouse]



For 5k I might be persuaded to sell one of my original PiobChairs [sup]TM[/sup]

Great, just great... Another design icon sees a large price hike after gaining popularity with the masses.

 

[modernman76]

Great, just great... Another design icon sees a large price hike after gaining popularity with the masses.

The good news is that these styles will be a dime a dozen at some point again (hopefully in our lifetime). I have a house full of Heywood-Wakefield and when I first started collecting it was fairly cheap, then there was a price spike for about 15 years. It's now back down to reasonable prices again. Same thing for George Nelson lamps and clocks. You couldn't give away those things when I started collecting, now there is a huge premium. These chairs may or may not have hit that sine wave of price, but I would guess they have and will again, but probably not for a good while (damn Mad Men show).